TouhouDoom Remake
by AlexArmin36
Summary: This is the remastered version of the first Touhou/Doom fanfic I wrote in here. Every weapons, enemies and items can be found at the first story. I included the archives at the first fanfic. Thanks kobe for the advice.
1. Chapter 1

_Forest of Magic, 12679 southwest of Misty Lakes…_

The forest is a beautiful oak and spruce forest. The trees are not too near, yet not too far away as to become a grass plain. The cool shade of the towering trees provides relief for any traveller going their way. Said traveller also travels through the forest, choosing from many winding paths that snake through the forest. Many Youkai made their home here, as the inherent magical potency as well as its natural serenity appeal to many.

For years, this forest has seen many things. The rise of a powerful family called the Scarlet Devil, the Cold War of Youkai and Human, the Imperishable Night, the Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. This forest has seen many things, and now right around noon 1300 she shall witness a desperate battle of life and death.

The trees and clouds are kind to the soldiers, giving them respite from the sweltering heat of July as they fought their way through a fortification. The squadron isn't a weak one, nor is it an important one. They were just a couple of squads left, protecting a lorry filled with refugees. But the odds are not looking good…

The crude fortification of wood and unholy metal bars the way of the soldiers, posing a challenge for the marines to overcome. Unlike a normal defence's checkpoint, it was manned by several manners of grotesque monsters. The brown, leathery humanoid monster raised the temperature with their flames while their heavier pinkish comrades engage in an all-out brawl with sharp tooth and snapping jaw.

A solitary jeep is engaging in an intense firefight with the demons, posing a dangerous obstacle for the monsters to waltz through with its bulletproof casing and heavy machinegun. Behind it, there were two young soldiers taking cover behind the said jeep. One is a Pakistani-Chinese male, equipped with an M4A1 carbine. His eyes were deep brown, a colour of rich chocolate of Istanbul. His hair however, is a vibrant light green, even though the crew cut you can see the root of the hair permanently stained with green. His eyes are shifting between the refugees and the barricade.

The second soldier is a woman. She also has vibrant green hair. She was beautiful, her green eyes shone like emeralds as the flame dances around the battlefield. Her unblemished white skin is soft to the touch, yet she is not a china doll. While her friend attached a bull's-eye on his helmet, she attached a single hair clip shaped like a frog. The woman is busy reloading her sidearm.

At long last, the young man breaks the chatter silence. "Okay, tell me how many we killed those bastards?" The young man asked. The woman closed her eyes in silence. After a second, she said "Too many to count. I reckon we killed more than what this enemy bunker can hold, unless they have a huge network of underground tunnel to move from."

The young man grimaced at the answer. "Just as I thought" The young man concluded. "Tell me Sanae, how did the demon can move and build at fucking breakneck speed?" he asked the woman, who we shall call as Sanae from now on.

"They had teleporters" Sanae said. She shook her head for a moment. "So that's why they can maintain their position. The problem is, where it is?"

"Probably deep inside their bunker" The young soldier said, looking grim. "Sanae, unless we shut it down, I don't think any of us gonna make it-"

"So what? We just gonna charge in and hope that we shut off the teleporters before we got killed?" Sanae asked him. The young man nodded. "Jeez Hito, I thought you are a fucking reporter!"

"Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." Hito replied, sounding both weary and determined at the prospect of death. "Look around us Sanae-kun, before this we have a whole platoon backing us up and 2 Lorries of refugees. Now we are only down to 12 men and women including us! If we stay here, we die! If we die, the refugees die as well! We can't let that happen!"

Sanae turned her head around, staring at the lorry that is carrying civilians. Sanae growled. She can see the fear in their eyes as the demons gets nearer to the vehicle. "There are children in there" She quietly whispered. She gripped her Berreta M9 pistol tighter.

Hito then produced a single, smoke bomb from his webbing. "Look, this is my last smokey. Once we got the chance, we throw it in there and charge in. The smoke will obscure us enough for us to slip by. Then, it's up to us to find the teleporter."

Sanae smiled. "Then I need a bigger gun than this." She declared. She then raised her head and yelled at the machine gunner. "Hey Louise! Can I borrow your shottie?"

"Catch!" the machine gunner replied. The burly African-American man then throws a brown pump-action shotgun to Sanae with one hand while the other is still manning the LMG. "Take good care of my Charlotte wills ya?"

"Won't be a problem! Thanks Lou!" Sanae thanked him. Louise only grinned before getting his attention back to his machinegun. Sanae grinned as she pumped the brown stock of the shotgun, ejecting a shell which unfortunately hits Hito in the eye. Sanae giggled at this. Hito rubbed his left eye, not amused by the turn of even. "Oh come on Hito! Lighten up a bit!" Sanae said to him while picking up the ejected shells.

Suddenly, a roar came out west of their position. Both of the soldiers froze up in fear. "Oh shit." They said in synchronization.

A large demon of 7 foot tall lumbers from the forest, its large intimidating scarlet body towers above many men as he walks toward the refugee lorry. It looks like the classic depiction of the devil, with its goat's leg and goat's horn. It was a terrifying enemy to fight. Not only his powerful arm can rip a marine in half without second thought, the same arm can conjure powerful green blast that can melt a man. _And it's coming straight for the evacuees!_

"Fuck!" Sanae yelled, loading several shotgun shells into the shotgun. "We gotta help them!"

Hito grabbed Sanae's arm. "Are your shells buckshot or slug?" He asked her. Sanae's face fell into despair. Hito doesn't need answer. Her face says it all.

It's buckshot. And if she fires it, the spread might end up killing the civilian instead. She gritted her teeth. Dammit, there are children in there!

Just all hope seems lost; a pair of soldiers armed with shotgun and assault rifle appeared. They were both shooting at the demon while taunting it, drawing its attention away from the civilians. "It's the Jake Paul duo!" Sanae said, smiling at the sight. "Those crazy fucks always got our ass covered!"

The soldiers, whom we shall call as Jake and Paul fought off the demon. Their combined firepower proves to be too much for the demon, as it slumps down on its hairy goat knees and let out a keening wail. Without further ado, the one with the shotgun blast its head off, killing it for good.

"Damn!" Sanae said. "They got it covered!"

"Not for long they won't. More will come during the fight. If we didn't close the portal, we're fucked." Hito said, readying his smoke bomb. "I don't like this, but we have one shot in this"

"Just make sure you didn't miss alright?" Sanae said, shouldering her new shotgun. "You think we gonna make it through?"

"We're facing imps and pinkies in the bunker. The shotgun is created for cleaning up tight spaces. Guess how much tight spaces we have in a bunker" Hito said, preparing the smoke bomb in his hand. He looked at the barricade, waiting for the opportune moment.

"Wish that pinkies don't swallow this shottie like mine did." Sanae said, loading a new shell from her pack just in case. "I don't want to see Louise cry because little Charlotte went down a demon gullet"

"You'll be fine" Hito said. "Seriously, what could go wrong?"

Once both of the soldiers managed to infiltrate the bunker, they realized one thing. So many things can go wrong.

Hito got a concussion by a charging pinkie, its powerful large head smashing straight to him when he was turning around a corner. Halfway through the journey, he ran out of ammo, forcing him to use the M16 as an ornate war club. It surprisingly worked quite well against the smaller humanoid enemies. Sanae herself doesn't fare well. She got her armour scorched by the imps. But what makes her pissed off is that it burned some strategic holes at her clothing, revealing some (not all) of her pearly-white skin. Most men would KILL to see her thighs and cleavage, but Hito is too damn tired to do anything. All he wants is to shut off the damn portal and resume their journey to the nearest safe zone. All and all, they were just happy that they're still alive.

What pissed them the most is the fucking maze. MAZE, in a bunker. Hito groaned at every dead end, wondering where the hell the demons kept their portal at. The design of the bunker doesn't help at all. But they push on, unwilling to give up.

They succeeded in reaching the portal. The portal is a platform with a pentagram drawing on it. Sanae recoiled slightly. It has a certain malevolent aura that she even wouldn't dare think of. Hito only sighed in relief. Finally! They can shut it off and get outta dodge. But there's one big problem. How?

Hito slumped near a computer desk, too tired after a long engagement with demons in close-quarter combat. Sanae on the other hand is busy chanting some kind of mantra or prayers at the pentagram. Hito only groaned as he stood up and equipped his sidearm. "I swear if you summon more demons…"

The portal lost its pentagram marking, but Sanae isn't finished yet. "I blocked the transmission, but I can't fucking shut this thing down!" Sanae yelled, waving her shotgun around. If Louise saw how she handles his Charlotte it will be funny. Hito only groaned. "Hito, find me something that looks like a power source for demons or something!"

"Fuck it Sanae, I'm done" Hito replied, opting to plop his face at the keyboard of the command control desk. Sanae shook her head, tired of this fiasco. She turned her head back and forth between the portal and the command centre. Dammit! There must be a way for her to shut it down.

As if on cue, she heard a low growling coming from the nearest door. She froze up, anticipating an attack. She put her hand in her packs only to realize that she ran out of buckshot. Cursing inwardly, she opted to one-hand the shotgun like a club while her other hand is wielding her pistol.

Nothing happened, except the portal has lost its unholy glow. She whirled around to see the culprit. Hito was lying face-first at the keyboard, giving zero fucks about his situation. He rolled his face all over the keyboard, eliciting several clicking sound from the action. Sanae unable to compute such absurdity rolled on the ground laughing.

Hito raised his head from the keyboard. "Huh" He said, looking at the deactivated portal. "It actually worked"

"Stars above! Did you actually roll your face all over that and wha- I can't even-" Sanae's sentences were cut off by a fresh wave of giggles. Hito only shrugged.

"Well, let's get the fuck outta here shall we?" Sanae nodded at Hito's word. Picking herself off the floor, she proceeds to take point in the return expedition.

"What's our status?" An unknown soldier said to another soldier.

"We lost 3 men in engagement. Aside that, nobody died. We are bingo on ammo though…" The second soldier replied, fiddling with his bulletproof vest. The vest has a new tear mark beside all the others. The soldier smiled. "Well, at least we made it alive huh?"

"Who was our casualty?" The first soldier asked. Judging by the stripes on his shoulder he was a captain. His piercing blue eyes stared at the private in front of him. The private fidgeted a bit before replying. "Sir, we lost private Jake Paul, private Paul Brooks and corporal Shinmura. The JP duo got ripped up by a fucking Baron of hell. Corporal Shinmura however, got chomped in half by a pinkie."

"Ouch" The captain said. "Those fucking pinkies. I swear to god they are the worst."

"Are they even worse than Pain Elementals?" The private replied. The captain chuckled at the reply. "Hehe, nothing can get on the top of my shit list other than that ugly Cacodemon ripoff."

"Captain Smith!" Hito called out to the captain. The captain smiled at their arrival. "Private Sanae and Hito, you done me proud son." Hito and Sanae saluted him. The soldier beside Smith then whistled loudly. "Damn Sanae, you're looking fine!"

"Hey, mind your manner Private Carl" Captain Smith said. "That booty's mine"

"Excuse me cap?"

"Jeez Sanae-chan, I'm just messing with you." Captain Smith said, eliciting a chuckle from said Private Carl. Sanae proceeds to cover the hole on her shirt, blushing lightly. Hito only watched in indifference of this antic. Then he asked the important question. "Say cap, what happened when we're gone?"

Captain Smith's face became serious, his large bushy eyebrow frowning at the question. "Shinmura and the Jake Paul duo died. We lost a jeep in the fight, but the weaponries still intact. The civilians are safe thanks to those dual rednecks. Worst part, we only has one jeep left so the rest of you gotta hoof it. Any question?"

"Those crazy fucks…" Sanae said, shaking her head. Her vibrant green hair swayed alongside her. Being a soldier, she needs to cut her hair regulation short. But as because the marine forces in Gensokyo is more irregular than the outside, she can wore short helmet-like hairstyle to fit her regulation helmet. She stared at the captain's eye. "Sir, if I may, can I pray for the slain marine? I am after all, their chaplain." The captain nodded. He then pointed at his left. Just a short distance, there is a pit manned by several marines. She nodded and saluted Smith before embarking toward the grave. All of the marine there stood in silence, paying respect for the fallen.

Smith broke the silence. "All right marines get your gear ready and wait for the order to move out. Any question?" No answer from the rest of the dudes. Captain Smith nodded. "Alrighty then, dismiss."

The march was a tense affair. Everybody is on edge, anticipating an attack or two. The last ambush was costly for the squadron. Before, there are 4 jeeps and 2 refugees' lorry. Now, they are down to one jeep, one lorry and 9 marines. Each of them were dishevelled and in several stage of dirt. One is literally covered head-to-foot with demon blood. It may look badass at first, but it's a pain in the ass condition to march in.

"Fuck, I felt like the woods are watching us." Hito said, voicing out his discomfort. His only solace is through his camera, which somehow survived every engagement he fought through. He heard that the camera is created using the technology and expertise of the kappa species. Hito doesn't really care who made them, all he care is that it works and it last long. "Damn" Hito said, still clicking away at his camera. "Whoever made this thing better get an assload of medals."

"Well, that's the kappas for you" Sanae interjected, her eyes following the direction Hito is shooting on. The silent clicking is unheard due to the cacophony of marching boots. "If magicians and wizards are our scientist, then the kappas will be our engineer. Everything mechanical and machine is their forte."

"Fucking hell" Hito said, taking a picture of his marching comrades. "Look at them; they're all jumping at shadows."

"Well what do you expect?" Sanae replied. "We were fighting non-stop at the Moriya District. Then, we were ambushed like what? 30 times? We lost 2 squadrons along the way and we've been marching for 12 hours straight without sleep. I'm surprised they're still standing." She yawned. There are eyebags under her beautiful green eyes. "Fuck, I really need rest…"

"And let the demon take our soul when we're asleep? No thanks." Hito replied, holstering his camera back to his pack. He also unceremoniously yawned. "How long is this damn march?" he asked.

"Show yourself!"

All the soldiers stopped at their tracks, their guns ready for action. Hito and Sanae gripped their weapons, their eyes wandering wildly for the enemy. Damn, Sanae thought to herself. Captain Smith is tired as all hell, but he can still notice something's amiss.

"Jeez, hold your horses will ya?" A child-like voice came out of the wood area. "Chill, I'm on your side."

"Prove it" Captain Smith replied, shouldering his prized hunting rifle. "If you're one of us, you get your ass right here."

"Fine, fine shees." The voice said. A few second later, a prepubescent child then flew toward Captain Smith. She was a blue fairy with icicles as wings. She wore a dark blue Kevlar vest over her blue dress. She also wore a blue Kevlar helmet atop her short light blue hair. Her cerulean eyes twinkled with mischief and confidence as she approaches the captain. "Happy?"

"Yes." He only replied, smiling inwardly. How could he not? Fairies in Gensokyo are always cute, this one is no different. What makes it much cuter is that she's wearing a combat uniform and are wielding a pair of Tec-9 submachine pistol coloured bright blue. She looks like a little girl just having a tomboyish game of war.

Hito turned around to face his comrade. The remaining marines were smiling, happy seeing such an adorable creature in front of them. The fairy's appearance may not seem much, but it plays a huge role in morale. Already the moods of despair were lifted, replaced by a certain gay mood.

"So, what's your name?" Captain Smith asked.

"Ma name's Cirno sir! Captain of the Team 9 Scouting Corps! Eye am right now on a mission sir!" The fairy named Cirno said, making everybody in the corps go 'awwww'

Suddenly, a large muscled man walks toward the fairy. He is a bald, heavy-set Russian man with immense strength. His primary weapon is a minigun, which he carries everywhere without problem. He even fought a Hell Knight in a fistfight and WON. All and all, he's dangerous.

Cirno switched her stare toward the large man. "Ohoho! Who is this human? You look strong!" She then put her fist at her chest. "But eye am the strongest fairy in Gensokyo! You better knew that!"

Suddenly, he grabbed the fairy and squeezed her in a bear hug. "Little fairy so cute!" the large man said in a thick Russian accent. "Heavy likes cute fairy!"

Cirno doesn't seem to be bothered, only hugging back as twice as hard. Heavy smiled at the strength of the fairy. "Little fairy is strong! Heavy likes strong people!"

The captain smiled at the scene. Damn, those two may become good friends. But enough of that. "Why are you here Captain Cirno?" Several of the marines chuckled quietly. Before she could reply, another child appeared in distress. The child is clad in the same uniform as Cirno except the colour is changed to light green. Her hairstyle is the same messy bangs like Cirno, except it is lighter green than Sanae's hair. Her wings have a yellow cricket-like structure. She wields a HKMP5 submachine gun with silencer and red dot sight. Her green eyes stared at the marines wildly before settling onto Cirno. "Cirno-chan! What are you doing? We need to get to the mansion as fast as we can!"

"What? Why? Tell me private!" Captain Smith asked her, making her snap to attention. She turned around and stand at attention while LEVITATING off the ground. At her hip you can see a generic Glock 18 semi-auto pistol at her side. She swallowed audibly. "Sir, there is a large horde of demon coming straight to the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"

"What's their strength?" Captain Smith asked her, his face hardened at the message. The marines lost their smile, gripping their weapons in fear. They were trained to fight against human enemy dammit! Not demons that came from your worst nightmare! But they kept their composure. They're marines for Christ sake.

"40 imps, 40 pinkies, 20 Hell Knights, 35 Cacodemons and 10 Pain Elementals! They came from coordinate 67845 at Marty-6 checkpoint! If we didn't hurry, headquarter would suffer just like that checkpoint!" The green fairy replied. A cold shockwave of fear shoots up at everybody's spine. "That would make 145 demons in total…" Captain Smith said, his voice becoming a whisper every second. Sanae and Hito exchanged looks. She was armed with a new shotgun from the dead marines. Everybody's face paled at the number. Impoverished, encumbered and outnumbered, they're surely fall. The civilians muttering became much more audible. The fathers are muttering sweet lies to their children and their brothers make oath of arms, promising that they'll never die without a fight.

"You better get you butt moving! They'll arrive at this position around half an hour!" Cirno replied, raising her Tec-9s to emphasize her point. "Don't worry! You'll actually 10 minutes march away from here! If you run, you might get there in half!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" A civilian yelled from the bus. "Let's go then!" the others nodded at the response. Captain Smith nodded as well. He turned to face the green fairy, smiling as he did. "You did good private…"

"Daiyousei. Just call me Daiyousei." The green fairy replied. Smith smiled at her reply. "Private Daiyousei, your team have saved lots of innocent lives today." He turned around. "Marines! Get your asses moving! We're nearly there! Private Carl, get the radio! Tell the units from Kilo-five to Alpha-7 that they better get their ass moving!"

"Right away sir!" Private Carl replied, heading toward the lone jeep. He grabbed a single WWII era radio and yelled in the order. The only difference is that it was marked with NSRM-2 with a logo of a green hat and wrench, the logo of the kappas. He then turned to face Cirno. "Captain Cirno! I need you and your squad to protect us as well! We are short on personnel and equipment. That's an order!"

"Sir yes sir! Team Nine assemble!" She yelled. As soon as she spoke the word, 3 more fairies appeared from the woods. One is a cute little girl with pink hair and grey eyes. Her wings are like a pink sparrow, soft and fluffy. She wore a pink Kevlar vest with bandolier draped over it. Her pink helmet has the word 9 on it just like everybody in her team. Like Daiyousei, she carries a HKMP5 submachine gun with the same accessory. The second fairy is likely a girl as well. She has blue eyes, teal hair and a bug antenna, which protrudes from her dark blue helmet. She also wears a blue Kevlar vest as well. Her weapon at first glance looks like an American M16 rifle, but the magazine is a copy of the Uzi's magazine.

Last but not least, there is a cute blonde child without wings. At first glance she seems to be a normal child of ten. Her short blonde hair was donned by a black oversized helmet, which slipped over her face much to the marine's amusement. She has a pair of red eyes and an adorable smile. Out of all her friends, she's the only one wearing something akin to a tactical outfit. A black bandolier over her black Kevlar vest. She was armed with an Uzi submachine gun with a folding stock.

Louise's breath got stuck in his throat for a second. He quickly coughed a little before anybody noticed. But Sanae noticed that. She gave a sad look of understanding at him before changing her view toward the cute army group. She knew who they are all right, but the rest needs introduction.

"Private Mystia Lorelei at your service sir!" the one in pink said.

"Private Wriggle Nightbug ready for action sir!" the one in blue said.

"Private Rumia ready for action sir." The blonde child said at last. Louise the gunner was staring at her forlornly. With a shake of his head he sighed and turns his eyes toward the rest of the marines. Their faces display a look of grim determination. They are within marching distance's to the relative safety of the second headquarter in Gensokyo.

"Hey Sana" Hito said, tapping her shoulder to grab her attention. "Did you notice that they're all armed with 9mm weapons?"

"Wrigglebug's M16 is not a 9mm weapon." Sanae replied. Hito then grinned widely. "That is the Colt 9mm SMG. It was designed to look like an M16. It is chambered in 9mm Parabellum rounds." He said, pointing toward the rifle. Sanae is not convinced yet. "And how do you know that?" She asked. Hito smiled wider. "The fucking magazine is an Uzi mag." He chuckled, and then tapped his temple with his finger vigorously.

Sanae's mind was blown that day.

We made it. We fucking made it.

It was around 1630 that we saw the mansion. The squad literally jumped with joy at the sight of the headquarter. After being on the run for 2 day straight we finally made it through. We survived the outside barrier of the Human Village's defensive perimeter and fought our way through the treacherous demon infested Youkai Trail.

My first impression of the place is that the devil itself must have guarded this place, and the angel decides it's a damn good idea to wreck this place up. The large mansion was covered by 10 foot scarlet walls. The walls are pockmarked with burns, cracks and bullet holes, but it still looks hard and formidable. The watchtowers trained their machinegun on us as we approaches the gate. Sentry bots and soldiers atop the wall aimed their guns at us. The gate however, was busted in. I saw the hinges of the black gates still stuck at their area. The gaping maw however was protected by several concrete barricades as well as machinegun nest. Above all, there's an even piece of scrap metals and demon bones strewn across the perimeter, its sharp edges ready to puncture any stupid demons trying to charge in.

"State your name and unit!"

We were stopped by a commanding voice. It was feminine, yet filled with confidence and pride. Captain Smith replied with the same volume. "I am Captain Erwin Smith; this is the 12th Light Infantry Unit from K-10 stronghold escorting the last of the civilians. We are understrength and in need of relieving miss."

"It's those dudes that we're ordered to take in!" The female voice yelled, probably to her subordinate. "Let them in!"

In a split second, the front section of the concrete barricade moves out of the way. The lorry came in first; you can hear the relief from the civilians inside. I can't blame them; even I would celebrate getting out of a fucking ambush festival.

The next is the jeep. We only have one still operating. Louise cracked his knuckles and sighed in relief. We came in third. The marines were grinning, exchanging joke and anecdotes with each other. They survived the hell trail, that's all that matters. Me? I'm just glad my camera makes it. Hell, the picture of the busted gates look badass as fuck.

"I'm glad you guys made it."

The female voice came in. we turned attention toward the voice. I maybe acting like a fool, but I can't help but let my jaw drop. In that instant I knew that Sanae wouldn't be appearing in my dreams or anybody at all. The marines got their tongue tied, unable to speak. Some bolder men whistled. Heavy got his jaw so low; I think it touches the ground. Louise stared dumbly, his eyes staring intently toward the temptress. Even Captain Smith got his tongue tied.

The girl has a long shining scarlet hair that shines in the sun. Her double ponytails hang at her visage like the whisker of a dragon. Her eyes are a shining emerald. Her body was insanely curvaceous, her ample rear and D-sized cup destroyed Sanae's in the body department. Last but not least, she wore a revealing cheongsam. Her thick and shiny thighs hold a Berreta M9 as well as several magazines. She wore a short green pants, but it might as well serve as a panty. She wore a bandolier over her tight green cheongsam, allowing us to have the full review of her body shape. At her back, I can see a Chinese made AK-47 slung behind her. I chuckled. Looks like a new entry for the marine's Girls-I-Wanna-Fuck-Before-I-Die list.

"All right boys, while in my base you obey my rules. I am in charge of the defence and you guys are under my command." A marine opened his mouth. "Before you ask, no, I'm not gonna date anybody or do any of those kinky shit you wanna trick me into. I'm not stupid." The marine closed his mouth but the woman isn't finished yet. "No, the maids are NOT free games either. If I had a single complaint from them about you guys I'll kill you personally. Got it?"

"You got maids?" I asked dumbly. The marines in my unit chuckled a little. She smiled. "Yes we do have maids. They are here to clean up the mess you made, so be nice to them or you'll have to answer to ME." I want to ask more, but her eyes challenged me otherwise. I shut my trap quickly.

"So, all that aside; name's Hong Meiling. I'm the commander of this place. So you bastard get your ass right at armoury and stock up. Once you're done get your ass at the barricades. My officers would guide you if you get your dumb ass lost. Any question?" Nobody said anything. She nodded. "Then be ready at 10 minutes sharp, the siege will be here around 20 minutes or so. Move out!"

She left us for another assignment. Moments later, an officer came toward us. He is a simple soldier, a human soldier to be exact. "Follow me, I'll show you the way."

Along the way I snapped several pictures of the area. One thing I noticed is that this place is heavily fortified. Machinegun nest, sentry bots, hell even several flak cannons were strewn across the courtyard, ready to rip and tear any stupid demons coming this way. Second is that everybody is armed in some way. Usually the maids and staff are armed with a single pistol. Even the one without pistols has a bracer at their arm, which I recognized as the NLSA-01. I frowned, Looking at the bracer I worn at my left hand. It was designed as a last stand weapon, but due to the fact that nobody survived being captured by demons, well, you get the idea. I shrugged. At least I have a guaranteed way to prevent myself being captured alive.

We reequipped ourselves at the armoury. I was surprised by the amount of ammo it still have. Oh well, not complaining here. Sanae has exchanged her worn and ripped shirt and vest for a new black tactical one. She trade in her pump-action shotgun for the Spas-12 shotgun. She also changes her buckshot for slug. "Just in case" she said. I just replenished my rifle and pistol ammo. My rifle works just fine, not a jam at all. But I made a cursory check just to be sure.

Exactly 10 minutes later, we got ourselves locked and loaded at our station. I was assigned behind sandbags at the second column beside three machinegun nest. My job is to ensure the nest is not flanked anyway possible. Sanae are with Rumia and Louise, 2 trenches to my left. They look calm in the surface, but they are actually dead afraid. I turned my head around to face my squad mate. One guy wore a space helmet or something, I can't see through the screen on his face. He gave a thumb up to me as he gripped the machinegun. I smiled, taking a picture of him.

I growled deeply, ready for the demon to come. The sun has fallen west at a 45 degree, bathing us in a brilliant orange glow. I trained my iron sight at the road, anticipating the battle. My heart were pumping hard, my grip were strong and true, my eyes were clear and sharp, my resolves are strong and my cause is just…

One more battle,

One more fight,

One more… wait, is that what I think it is? I checked my camera carefully, not believing what I saw.

Somewhere at the corner of the picture, a marine dabbed.

Dammit.


	2. Chapter 2

All right, one more stand.

My eyes stared toward the road as I waited with bated breath for the demons to come in. The sun has fallen 45 degree west, enveloping us in a brilliant glow of orange. Times in Gensokyo work funny here. You can practically live an eternity here and still looks a day under 20. Oh well, not complaining here. It's not like I'll survive long enough to get married or something, just like what my dad wanted.

"Captain, not to be nosy, but what's up with Louise and Rumia?"

I turned my head sideway to face the little fairy. Her pink and fluffy wings tickled at my back as she gets nearer to me. Mystia's eyes and SMG were trained at the road. "Nothing of your concern private"

She cast a fleeting glance at Louise and Rumia. Louise is at his normal position behind a machinegun. Sanae is at his left, her shotgun locked and loaded. Rumia is at his right, her SMG were trained at the road as well. "Well?" Mystia asked, her wings tickling my back to make me comply.

But I'm made of sterner stuff. "Sorry private, but that's personal."

"Is he a paedo?"

The question caught me off-guard. I adjusted my hunting rifle position and gave her a stern glare. "Shut your trap and get your ass ready for combat miss."

She was undeterred by my glare at all. "Captain Smith, is he a paedophile?"

"Is that how you speak to your superior?" I said to her, no humour from my tone. I've no time to deal with this! She only smiled. "Do you forget that I'm a Youkai? Being small and cute doesn't make a Youkai harmless" She pointed her finger at Rumia. "See that girl? She's the Youkai of Darkness. She eat human the most in my group."

"What's your point?" I asked her, still peering into my 8x8 scope. Her wing pressed upon my back, the pressure surprisingly strong. "Look captain, you human came into our land bringing strange new enemies, killed off many of our people, tried to conquer us and our womenfolk, then you expect us to listen to everything you human demands? I can blind your whole troop and made them kill each other. You're lucky that Alex and other Youkai agrees to work WITH you humans. The least you can do is telling me who I must watch out for."

I sighed. Apparently the effect of the Cold War still fresh in the heart of many. What do you expect? It's literally 4 years since it happened. In fact, I'm glad the demons came here; it stopped the greedy politicians up there from sending more young boys to death when a much peaceful way can be chosen when dealing with this. With a heavy heart I spilled the bean. "Master Gunnery Louise Simpson lost his family when he was fighting the demons at Boston. I didn't saw the body, but it was enough to reduce that big guy to a weeping mess. I literally had to transfer him in a stretcher."

"Let me guess, Rumia looks like his deceased daughter?"

I nodded. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I really do"

"Not a problem" I replied. Her pressure of the wings lightened, turning it into a pleasant blanket that envelopes my back. She sighed forlornly. "Guess I owe Daiyousei a mag"

I chuckled at the response. "Hey, at least he's no-"

"Contact!"

I instinctively gripped my shotgun tighter. Let them come, I thought grimly. Let them come straight to my slug, our rockets, our bullets and our killing intent. I smiled. Hey, at least this will get Louise's head from thinking about his deceased family.

Louise grinned as he gripped the machinegun tightly. He too, doesn't want to think about his family too. The arrival of his daughter look-alike is bad enough.

"Hold your fire Sanae, that's not an enemy."

Rumia said to me. She is holding a pair of binocular. Her eyes became wide in worry. "Shit, those are our girls!"

"What?" I said. I pulled out my own binocular myself. True to words, a lone motorcycle was coming at us at full speed. A single, no, a single driver and one wounded girl were coming to our post as fast as they can. My eyes widened at the recognition.

"Emily!" Louise yelled; shock and joy were present on his face.

"No, she's not-"

"Emily, don't worry I'm coming!" He jumped out of the foxhole and sprinted as fast as he can toward the moving vehicle. Cursing inwardly, I followed suit.

The rider stopped at the gate when she saw Louise. "We made it ze!" the rider yelled at her friend. "Alice, we made it!" The woman named Alice only moaned. She wore a standard woodland camo fatigues and Kevlar armour. She was in a bad shape, her blonde hair is stained with scarlet blood from her wound and some part of her outfit was ripped out, revealing several ugly scratch marks. Her assault rifle was slung behind her. It seems that the NAR-02 has seen some action.

Louise picked up Alice in a bridal-style carry. "You'll be alright Emily" He said, his voice becoming slow and soft. "I'll make sure they won't hurt you..." Alice gave no response, her eyes still shut. "Oy, be gentle with her." Marisa said. "She got a concussion. You better get her patched up."

Louise nodded, opting to sprint in hot pursuit with the lady in his hand. "Well, what's that about?" Marisa asked me. She wore a black trench coat over her usual maid outfit. Her twin bandoliers draped over her body, looking rough but still operational. Her waist holster shows 2 0.44 S&W Model 29 hanging precariously from her holster. The silver glint of the revolver was stained by several bloodstains. Her eyes were a bright mischievous yellow, which is now narrowing to me in all her serious attitude.

"He thought Alice was his deceased wife" I replied.

"Ze, wonder why?" Marisa said, brushing some dirt away from her oversized witch hat. "Well, at least I don't need to carry her body around-" A fireball flew inches at her left, missing in a small margin. That alone was enough to send her in panic. "Oh shite! They're coming!"

"Let's go then!" I yelled, breaking off to a sprint. She upholstered the revolver and followed my lead, firing hot lead of death as she goes. Just a moment from my post I can smell the familiar rotten lemon smell of the accursed creature. "Forget about them, just run!" I yelled, telling Marisa to hurry up. She compelled, matching my speed as we go. We jumped behind the sandbags at the exact time. She aimed her revolver at the growing horde, her right eye peering through the iron sight with intensity.

I finally noticed the lack of her necessary item. "Mari! Where's your damn broom?" I asked her. I can see her little explosive mini-Hakkero stuck at her belt, ready to fire. I see another revolver of the same model stuck at her side, but no broom. She frowned at the statement. "Aye, I dropped it. That's why I use the bike."

"Why did you drop it?!"

"Sanae I'm not dropping any beats for no reason" Marisa replied dejectedly. "Little pole got snapped by a Hell Knight. Being a smaller version of the Baron doesn't mean less lethality."

"Ouch. Sorry for asking." I replied.

"Not a problem Sanae."

The enemy appeared the moment Marisa replied. The horde lumbered forward in a dynamic gait, the large whirlpool of burgundy flesh and blood-stained tooth advancing toward us. The size of the horde increased tremendously at each step, leading me to believe that they must've received reinforcement. I was horribly right.

"Mother of Altair…" Rumia said, her grip on the Uzi trembled slightly. "Those are the platoon at Marty-6 checkpoint…"

My eyes widened at recognition. True to her words, the vanguard consisted of several platoons of reanimated corpse, all in different state of death. The majority wore the standard military woodland camo, each carries the weapon that they used in life. I choked back the tears at the familiar faces back at base. My comrade-in-arms, whom I considered my family, is now nothing more than a shambling husk of a proud race they were.

I growled deeply. My eyes narrowed dangerously down at my shotgun's iron sight. By god, whoever controlled my friend's corpse like that, I hope that you feel every shot I'll give.

"Fire!"

At the forefront of the horde, Private Jake Paul's skull was split again by a single large slug round.

The battle was rough and violent. Just like every fight. The demons came in 4 different area, north, east, west and south, boxing us effectively. My dude's priority is to rip and tear anything that doesn't look human with bullets and bombs. We were careful with our explosives. We don't want to blow our walls off in accident.

I growled as I fired my revolver rapidly. The revolver works very well against small enemy as well as larger one. I pounded rounds after rounds toward the demon horde. Sanae is beside me, her Spas-12 shotgun clearing up the small fry that tries to get in. the big lug however were firing at the crowd in passion, roaring like a bull in every tenth shot. Sooner or later, I gotta break the bad news to that dude. It's a shame; Louise seems like a cool dude. But Alice is not his wife and I damn sure Alice won't accept him easily.

I loaded more rounds into my revolver. My friends were busy taking down the monsters that cross the killzone. The killzone were littered with bodies. It hurts to shoot down former comrade, but I knew they are gone. They fell down like puppets that got its string cut. But my priority is in the sky.

Pain Elementals, oh how fitting the name was and how I hate those fucks. Everybody has their view on them, but I think Alex's description works the best; "those thing looks like a Cacodemon had hate-sex with an uglier and wrinkly avocado." We had several laughs over that. Suika on the other hand gave zero fucks, opting to drink her problems away, usually accompanied by me. I chuckled inwardly; that fool never drank any alcohol in his life. It became official that he'll be the one cleaning up our mess every time the Youkai's threw a party and get drunk as skunk.

I smiled as I dropped a Pain Elemental to the ground, its body exploded in a fiery glory to create several flying burning skulls. It's not like he got a choice anyway; he can't disobey when he is as weak as Cirno and his employers can manipulate fate, even then his honour won't allow him to leave us in several state of drunken disgrace.

The sky were glowing, the numerous amount of flying skulls lights the evening. The sky has become twilight, the sun about to go and the moon about to rule the night. But the flames of the skulls brighten the warzone like dozens of hellish fireflies. Alex named them Lost Souls, due to their erratic and confusing movement. One second they'll be cooperating to kill us, the second they turned on each other, ramming each other with such speed that they cracked their own skulls.

The skulls were a huge and effective distraction for the demons. They're fast, small, and they're teeth were sharp. And did I not mention that the flame is not just for show? That thing burns like real flame. They flew straight at the faces of the soldiers, forcing them to focus on them instead of their ground allies. That was the only time the NLSA were in use, the defenders firing off their wrist-mounted pistol at the bastard that clings at their shoulders and throat.

I growled. The usage of our fallen comrades is very effective. They absorbed 60% of our firepower, allowing their heavier comrades to get closer. Grimacing, I quickly pulled out my second gun, firing with the same ferocity Louise shows. Sanae is still at my side, pumping slugs like there's no tomorrow. Despite our best effort, the demons have got close. This is where it got ugly. Rockets, grenades and bullets intensified at the area. The Barons and Knights were much more resilient, taking more hits than normal. The flak cannon and machineguns mowed them down, but we do need to reload once in a while. Every time we reload, they advance.

An imp got close, his wide snapping teeth bites my revolver barrel as he jumped toward my position. With a sadistic grin, I blasted its head off, taking great care to let the bullet pierce and hit his friend.

Suddenly, one of the fallen wakes up. It was a pinkie, his face riddled with bullets. I stared back in shock. A soldier took care of it, blasting it back to oblivion. I gave him a thumbs up. He nodded, reloading his assault rifle in return. The NAR-02 works well against these demons, much better than the standard military M16, hence why the Scarlet Devil Mansion adopted it.

But that's beside the point; the pinkie was resurrected, and there's only one way of waking up the dead… I shook my head, praying to whatever god up there to listen to my plea. Apparently the gods have a cruel sense of humour, as I saw a single, bald crown behind the wall of demons. At that point I knew, we're fucked.

Shit, an Archville.

Oh well, I killed so much of them back in Hell, I can kill another.

I took a deep breath, steadying my heartbeat. My eyes became sharper as I took on the demon's malnourished form. He was as tall as a Baron of Hell, but he was a scrawny albino bastard, his stomach looks like a malnourished man's rib. His unsettling skeleton grin mocked us as he tossed his ugly horned head and casted another spell. A distance later, a Hell Knight woke up. He looks exactly like the Baron, except he is tan and much smaller. But he can still fuck you up.

The necromancer's head jolted back with much force, expelling a considerable amount of scarlet fluid. He tries to stand still, but gravity wins the fight and he fell down onto the sea of scarlet. I smiled as I took sight of the second demon I saw. My trusty scoped Kar98k has accompanied me all the way since my graduation as an Explorer. Many people believe that any weapons that spent considerable amount of time in Hell might receive special properties. I shrugged, so far, my pistol and rifle is still normal, no voices in my head, no desires for baby sacrifice…

I think its fine.

"Shit!" A machinegunner yelled beside me. I jolted my head around. Did they manage to climb up the watchtower? Turns out it was much worse. A Cacodemon is chomping on the poor gunner's arm, its one green eye shone with malice and triumph as the gunner writhed in pain. Not wasting a moment, the gunner pulled out his sidearm, a normal Berreta M9 and shot the oversized floating meatball. It was enough to release the pressure on his arm, but not enough to kill it. I simply bashed my rifle butt at the eye with much force, crushing the demon's eye. The demon roared in pain, is massive maw finally letting go. Then I shot him with my rifle, dropping him onto its friend.

I turned around to face the gunner. What's left of the arm is nothing but a stump. I quickly pulled out my first aid kit from my pack and wrapped his arm with a bandage and tourniquet. His face is ashen white, the usual colour of the one who lost too much blood. "Rest now bro" I told him. "I'll take care of the rest." He nodded, lying on the hard concrete floor. It was risky trying to bring him to Eirin, the road is clogged with demons. I stared at the wall where my soldiers were situated. The sentry guns were busy blasting fools down. The walkways on the wall were stained with blood; some of my combatants are wounded. The cacodemons and its cousin prove too much to handle. I growled deeply. This is bad, real bad. I guess we have no choice…

I turned on the radio on my webbing. "Meiling, we need to deploy the BFG Division." The crackling of her Kalashnikov was audible through my radio. The grunting of the pinkies and the roar of the demons are so loud, I thought my ears about to burst. I was used to this however…

"You read my mind mate! Wait till they got to the right position!" She yelled back. Her Kalashnikov chattered in the background, signifying death for the demon invading the west gate. I took a 360 turn. The west, north and south gate were secure, allowing some of them to assist the one at the east gate. Furthermore, most demons were concentrated at the east gate, not willing to bash their way in when the gap at the east gate inviting them. I growled as I dropped another Pain Elemental, those are the one who dealt the pain.

"BFG Division! On your mark!"

Meiling shouted over the intercoms, signalling the division to get ready. I grinned as well, time to rip and tear. I look over the defensive line; you can notice that the one who wore the BFGD armour and helmet were fidgeting about, waiting for the order. Each of them carries a single chainsaw at their back, ready to use. The chainsaw's case was yellow and there is the emblem of the Kappas emblazoned at their side. The chainsaw were stored in a special sheath as to not let the chain cut the user instead.

"Wanna join the fun Alex?" Meiling asked; her voice tainted with utter bloodthirsty glee as she spoke the word.

"Leave some for me sugar tits"

She laughed over the radio. I decided to look at the battlefield. The demons are close, but not close enough to warrant a close-quarter combat unit to deploy. Deploying the division now would end up with many killed by friendly fire. I believe Meiling will deploy them when the ground forces are reloading.

True to my deduction, the frontline machineguns stopped firing, opting to reload. The demons saw this as an opportunity and lunged forward with unholy vigour. I grinned, they are charging to their doom.

"Cease fire!"

The order is absurd, cease fire? What the fuck? What the hell is she planning?

"This gotta be a joke! We can't just stop shooting!" Private Carl yelled back, fear in his eyes were very visible. I frowned at him. "Do what you're told private!"

"But cap-"

"That's an order!" I cut him off. I hate to do this, but she won't issue a ridiculous order unless she's planning to do something; and she's the commander, a combat captain never got his rank if he were a stupid soldier. Mystia on the other hand were anticipating something, grinning like a madman. She looks cute when she smiled. "The show's about to start" She said, as if she was a child at the circus.

"What would happen?" I asked her. She smiled sweetly toward me. "Just you wait..." She replied simply.

"BFG Division! Rip and Tear!"

That sentence turns out to be the most traumatic experience I ever had.

Well, I was just casually shooting demons off the air. We all know the Pain elementals and Lost Souls the one doing the hurting, I'm still operational. But about marine who dabbed in the picture, I don't know, I lost sight of that dude. Meh, he probably went out for a quick piss.

As soon as the order were yelled out, the dude in space helmet beside me roared incoherently. At closer inspection, he is wearing breastplate armour with two shoulder pauldrons protecting his shoulder. He also wears a bracer and a pair of elbow guard at each elbow. His legs are protected by greaves and kneepads. He wore a sleek suit underneath, the stomach area shone when the lights shines upon them. His strange space helmet conceals his face, but I can hear his laboured breath. The green warrior rushed forward, pulling out a chainsaw from their back. As he run toward the horde, I saw several others followed suit, all clad in the same green outfit he wore. Unwilling to miss out on a picture opportunity, I pulled out my camera and start clicking.

It was brutality, pure unadulterated brutality. The warrior fell on the horde, tearing them apart with their chainsaws. The demon anguished roar intensify as the berserkers swung and hacked their way through the fiend, their blades thirsty for blood and their roar reaches the deepest pit of hell, freezing the blood of any mortal hearing their raucous howls. They howled like wolves, tearing toward their prey with barbarous cruelty. The demons fought back, but the soldiers are unbreakable, incorruptible, nothing survives their path.

"Rip and Tear! Rip and Tear your Gutttsssss!" A hoarse war cry rang out at the middle of the melee, empowering the rest to fight on. We saw that they have the ground and main forces under control, so we focused ourselves toward the airborne enemies. It maybe shameful of me, but the scene is too awesome and grotesque not to be preserved in a photo.

The sulphur-lemony smell of the demon's blood stung my nose, increasing my heartbeat in a second. I took several deep breaths to calm it down. Easy there heart, I whispered. Easy, that thing can overwork you so much that you keel over and die.

The sun has disappeared completely, letting the moon reign for the next 12 hours. Powerful searchlights bathed the scene, allowing us to see what's happening in front of us. The moon shone forlornly above us, as if grieving the senseless violence of her children, seeing how low they have stooped.

I leave my post behind, leaving it at the hands of my third comrade who is busy reloading the NSAW the space marine wields earlier. I climbed over a jeep; its green camouflage renders it almost invisible in the night. I am a soldier first and foremost, but as a military correspondence it was my job to capture the moment and immortalized it for the younger generation to study and inspired by it. Hong Meiling is at the frontline, leading the berserker pack of wolves. Wait, is she killing them with her BARE HANDS?

Yep, just as true as the moon is round, she picked up a zombie dude by his throat and proceeds to rip off the HEAD of the poor bastard. Yes, the head. The body fell down headless, its owner in hand of a violent Chinese warrior. She smiled at her trophy before throwing at another imp. The bastard lost his head as well due to the force of the throw. "Wow" I said to myself. "And to think that my general thought that they're nothing but backward, simple women."

I growled at my own respond. That was in the past, the first time we came here. Come to think off, when did we actually found them? It doesn't matter much, what matter's that there's a large piece of landmass with its resources intact right under the corporate's noses. Due to our crippled economy after engaging the demons worldwide for 3 years it was a big find for us. The corporate, generals and presidents were eager to exploit the living shit outta this place. They sent in some scouts to make sure that this place is safe. I don't know which nincompoop think it was a good idea to wage a war against this tiny piece of land, but the war was on. And it lasted for a measly 2 month.

"Come on" A general once said during the assembly. "We are the biggest military forces in the world, we fought off demons from hell, and we got much more advanced technology than they did. What could go wrong?"

The strange thing is, the war between Youkai and Human might be the most bloodless war I've ever saw. Almost only 500 people died, and that was a huge margin. A conventional war would usually end with at least 12000 deaths. I chuckled quietly. It was kind of funny though, we were waging a war with an enemy who was born to dodge BULLETS.

Looking back at the memory, it was no wonder the war lasted for 2 months only. The power gap is too big. But that 2 month cements the distrust of human in Youkai even stronger, almost creating a new war. Fortunately, the leaders decided enough was enough.

The ground is now a plain of scarlet, the littered body of the demons and humans were strewn across the battlefield. The grasses shone in the moonlight as the scarlet dew sticks on the leaves and drips onto the ground, providing nutrient for the ground. How can a single platoon armed with only chainsaws and a gutful of testosterone-fuelled rage can destroy a whole demon horde? The thought is absurd. But here it is, the group actually pushing them back.

For some reason, my ears found the cacophony of roars, screams, metal clangs and the sickening squelch of human and demon flesh met were music to my ears. I don't know how, I just found a certain tune in the chaotic harmony of metal, blood and screams. As if on cue, a long, loud scream appeared in the middle of the 'chorus', complimenting it by screaming shrilly in a melodic style along with the harmonious chaos I am witnessing now. The scream that was not a human scream, that was something else, a scream of the damned, the glimpse of the unknown, the ethereal melodic scream that drove the soldier's mad, swinging and killing in a faster and reckless way. Several got hit by friendly fire, but they shrug the blow off like morning dew off a leaf in the afternoon.

On that day, I finally realized the strength of the BFG Division.


	3. Chapter 3

I stepped over another corpse as I deftly strode across the bushes. The auxiliary soldiers right now are performing battlefield sanitation. It was a dirty and gruelling job; dangerous considering the unknown prospect of ambush. Thank god demon's gores vaporize after 20 seconds; it'll be a nightmare to clean up the whole courtyard and battle ground. My eyes darted to and fro, watchful for any danger. Demons are sneaky bastard, once you think you killed all of them, suddenly a new squad of demon came outta nowhere to tear your ass a new one. It was one of the most annoying and terrifying obstacle I faced back in hell.

That's why I'm here; to make sure no sneaky bastard hides inside the trees to ambush us. I shuddered as I walk under a large maple tree. There's no way in Hell (ha-ha) that I can catch a break, unless I hide in a corner and one of the imps accidentally mistake a pinkie's hide for tasty humans. I inspected the area of the forest, waiting for any demons to attack. The moonlight shone above the forest in her full glory, its slightly blue hue marred with red mist. "Huh," I whispered to myself quietly. "It's the Scarlet Weather Incident all over again."

The trees cast their shadows as the moonlight penetrates the leafy roof of the natural fairy house. The shadow twist and turn, creating shadows that resembles demon in a way. Long, spindly limbs extend to its sharp-toothed compatriot, their black eyes watching my movement as I silently haunt the perimeter. The mushrooms glow faintly against the shadow, giving the forest a fearsome, magical atmosphere.

I chuckled quietly. Being alone in a dark, forbidding forest is a big no-no to many million others. Hell, as far I know almost every video games and movies features dark, haunted forest infested with monsters, just hiding in the shadow for its hapless victim. This place looks the part, the shadow monster silently watches over me. To increase the fear factor, bioluminescent mushrooms and spores stuck at strategic area of the trees, giving the illusion of many evil eyes waiting in the dark.

Strangely, this is my domain. I excel in the unknown, unexplored territory. When other people flinch from any dark abandoned house, I am deep inside it, just rummaging the drawer for any specimen. Picture this; a lone man is walking inside a cave, its exit or end unseen and unknown. A lone torch wards off the rickety finger of darkness as he strode upon the cold unforgiving granite earth. Far away, the man can hear distant unintelligible sound that echoes throughout the hole. That's me. I explore any world and area unknown to many; I crawled deep inside a labyrinth of tunnels, I battled snakes, malaria and leeches in lush, wild jungle, I climbed the deepest of ravine and swum the largest of lakes. While many though I am doing it for the dollar, they never thought how important an Explorer is. If it wasn't for my help, I doubt it that you can walk through Mount Ebott without falling into any pits.

What's that? I heard something.

I whirled around, swinging my rifle along for emergency quick scope. Nothing, only the grinning bark of willow and maple greeted me with their bioluminescent mushroom and flowers. I remember that Marisa used to haunt this place, picking mushrooms as she goes. I can picture her now; her flowing mess of golden locks drapes at her back as she hunched over a patch of fungus, picking a glowing Death-Cap in one hand and a basket of herbs in the other. The blue glow of the mushroom illuminated her grinning visage.

There, a rustle of leaves to my right. I dropped to my knee and raised my rifle in anticipation; no demon gonna get a drop on me. Nothing, no demons, no Youkai, not even human appeared to my right.

 _Are those the damned invincible pinkies?_

I slowly crept toward the noise, my rifle cocked and ready. My heart is beating like a drum as the familiar lemon-sulphur scent assaulted my nostril. _Demon_ I thought to myself. The smell is getting stronger as I got nearer. It is here, and it's bleeding heavily.

I jumped forward, aiming the Karabiner toward the demon lying on the ground. The only reason I'm not pulling the trigger is that it lost both its legs. He ain't a threat to anybody ever. The Hell Knight is surprisingly humanlike, as if an extremely muscular man suddenly grows goat horns and razor sharp nails upon his finger. It raised its head to look straight into my eyes. I frowned.

"Fuyuhiko? Why the fuck is you a demon?"

He chuckled upon my obvious question. His voice is harsh and throaty, a standard fare for every demon recruits. But his baby-face is not completely altered by its devilish curse. His clean smooth cheeks still retains its baby fat despite his age. His blue eyes however, were marred with pain and regret.

"Aye, it was a small world eh Alex?" He said, smiling weakly as he spoke. "I'm afraid I'm done for old buddy. Unless you know some Youkai Magical crap they all wield…"

"Say no more fam" I replied, extending my arm. Suddenly, 3 balls of light materialised from my palm and shoots toward my former human friend. He shudder a little as the magic entered his system; but a contented sigh escaped from his lips. His demonic yellow eyes subsides a little, showing his famous cold blue eyes. Somehow, the pain intensifies in his eyes.

He appears to be disappointed. "Hey bro." I said, trying to lighten the mood. "Ya know that I can't just pump you full of Danmaku instantly, it'll kill you."

"Then do it. Overload me, combust me, blast me to pieces…" He replied, the sorrow weighs heavily on each word. Then he stared at me with a strange stare. "Kill me." That was it. His request, while it was ludicrous on other situation is not ridiculous in this state. If looks can kill, I'll be dead. Ironic considering I'm the one he wants to do the killing.

"And sent you straight to the heart of my enemy? Fat chance." I replied, lowering my hand and rifle to assert the fact. He stood up, wincing from the healing wound at his knee. "That's the plan Alex! My plan is to get in there and with what strength I have, destroy them one by one." He slammed his fist onto his palm. 6 foot tall and packing muscles and horns, he sure does as he promises to. But I knew better.

"Hiko, ya know that plan is bullshit." I said, staring into his eyes. "Who do you think you are? Doom Marine himself?"

"He was a mortal, a human like you Alex! If he can single-handedly own Hell's asses then it'll be a cakewalk for me! I am stronger than an average human! I am practically a demon!" He spat the last word, disgusted by the term demon. "Everybody says that YOU survived Hell too! If two normal Human can survive Hell, then it must be easier for me!"

"You think it was THAT easy to own Hell?" I growled deeply, all trace of humour gone in my sentences. "I barely survived with the skin on my teeth. That place is crawling with demons ten times stronger than you. You'll end up being one of them."

"So what?" he shouted back. "I'm much stronger now! I'll make every single one of them pay!"

"What would your wife says to you!" I growled back, using that card to turn the table. "You think she wants you to become a demon? Come to think of…" I trailed away, opting to stare intensely into his eyes, just like I always did when I'm fighting a boss monster. "…The Yakuza leader I knew would rather die than turning into something worse than a dog."

"Well, they got a tongue of silver when they are holding her in Hell…" He replied softly, almost afraid to be heard. "I can't abandon her there. Not now, not ever." He bunched his fist up, ready for a fight. "And I as hell not waiting around anymore!"

"So that's your fucking plan? Became a demon so you can go to Hell and save your wife?" I asked him. He nodded fiercely. Fucking hell… "You seriously threw away your humanity so that you can kill yourself?"

"You won't understand how this feels Alex! You're not a demon like me!" He roared back, his eyes shifted into sick hue of yellow. "If you won't send me to Hell, then I'll force you!" He said, raising one powerful arm. Moments later his palm were covered in green hue. With a mighty yell, he throws the ball of energy with all his might, every ounce of determination and rage fuelling the ball.

It'll be devastating if not for his shitty aiming; it flew over my head, opting to hit one of the maple trees a metre behind me. I swear one of the trees actually hissed in pain. That shocked me. It's not because he was a demon, it because he chose to risk his life on some bullshit and hasty plan! The Fuyuhiko I knew would never agree to such foolhardy quest, nor shall he miss a shot 5 miles away.

"Dude, calm down! We can still-"

"Fuck you!" He shouted back, fury and desperation fuels every word he spat out. With a bellow of his mighty throat, he barrelled toward me, imitating the infamous Hell Knight charging attack. I jumped out of the way, making him stumble around as he tries to get his bearing. He was panting heavily; his wound isn't healed completely. With a mighty roar, he turned around and charged again. But this time reality kicks in.

The magic I gave him is not enough to heal him completely. As he forces his injured leg to run, it tears open the scabbed skin behind his knee. He fell down mid-charge, his injured legs torn apart yet again due to overexertion. He pushed himself up to a knee. But I can see that he's not done yet. With another roar, he threw another energy ball toward me. I dodged the ball simply. But he isn't finished yet; with another determined heave, he throws another ball.

It took me several balls before realizing his intention. _Mother of God, he's not trying to kill me, he's trying to kill himself!_

True to my deduction, his movement become slower and much more laborious than normal. Films of sticky sweat coat his powerful pectoral chest in each throws. His face was contorted in a painful expression, showing his health condition. The old wound I healed has opened, the precious lifeblood trickles down his furry leg toward a lake of scarlet blood. He's trying to kill himself through overexertion. And it's working.

Magical overexertion is a painful way to go. Spending some time learning magic with Patchy tells me a lot about the danger of magic if used unwisely. Magic, manna, blessing, whatever you call it are our second stamina. While it does require some physical exertion, this one saps your mental and concentration. Magic requires the wielder to have intimate knowledge of the spells casted and has firm beliefs of its power. Knowledge and faith, those two are important for casting spell.

While magic does not require much physical effort or devices, good things are lethal when taken too much. Pumping another spellcaster with too much magic equals to spontaneous implosion equivalent of a grenade in someone's belly. On the other hand, spontaneous withdrawal of magic equals to 2 weeks of spontaneous starvation. Like feeding a starving person, to recover one must recover sufficient amount of magic to remain normal. In short, magic is as powerful and important as food and water for survival.

I shuddered at the memory of my first magical withdrawal. I was stupid that day; I tried to activate one of Patchy's spellcard. It requires vast magic reservoir that I don't have. I found myself lying on the cold floor delirious and foaming. The next 2 days recovery is very-very painful. I spend half of my day with a severe migraine, strange lethargic weakness of body and mind and the occasional jolt of pain that hits my joints as the magic system recover itself. And that's the recovery phase.

Looking into his eyes, I started to question my choice. What right do I have withholding his wish? Yes, I want him to live as he was my friend. But was it the right thing to do?

I looked at his demonic body. If I was right, he was part of the cavalry attacking the mansion. Judging by the inner conflict and hostility between races I think he's better off dead. Taking him in is a joke; he'll be shot before making the second step from the forest. Even if can get him through with my influences he'll be the target and scapegoat for every mistake and failure the human and Youkai faces. I seriously thought this option is viable. Fuyuhiko ain't the one who would cower under words; he would usually dispel and destroy any doubt his men have in him. That's how he operates, that's how he became a Yakuza Don.

But looking into his eyes I realized he's no longer Fuyuhiko. Gone was the determined gaze he carries every time he went out onto combat. Gone was the day he made negotiation and treaties with other Yakuza organization with maximum coolness. He was broken. He wanted to die. How could I blame him? That's how I end up at Gensokyo.

Sometimes, blessings can disguise themselves through catastrophic and depressing choice. Reluctantly, I raised my rifle and set my aim between his eyes. He stopped immediately, closing his eyes in finality.

"You know, Peko ain't the type to submit under anyone's order." I told him. He smiled sadly and replied. "She's one hell of a woman."

His head whipped back violently as the 7.92mm round punched through his cranium. Once again gravity showed his superiority as it violently pulled the body onto the ground like a sack of potatoes. His gaping third eyes wept Scarlet River that connects to its friend at the lake of blood.

I hang my hand limply at my side. The rifle is still in my grip, yet it was more of force of habit rather than any emotion. I felt…empty. I can't even describe how I feel now. It just an aching void of nothingness that weighed upon my chest like several weight of lead Meiling once forced me to bench-press.

…

The writer stopped, an overwhelming feeling of despair enveloping his heart as he writes the last sentences.

He gritted his teeth hard. Why? Why did he felt such despair? Why such trivial act can elicit such reaction? To many, forcing to kill your friend is painful. But to him, it was just another cliché plot point to elicit some kind of tragic backstory he read half the time. Such act in fiction is considered normal.

He looked outside his window. The sky has grown yellow as the sun slipped over the horizon. Rows of rows of bleak, grey apartment stood bravely like rows of soldiers over the snaking street. Soon, the street shall be filled with cars carrying father to their families. In this land, science ruled supreme while technology ruled our mind and body.

The writer wasn't exempt from this fact. The story he writes all came from a much more popular stories. It wasn't even a real story, just another fruit of someone else's labour. Shanghai Teahouse blares through his earphones from his phone. He writes not for recognition, just for amusement.

The young man then turned around to face the mirror behind him. It was funny how he shaped the OC Alex after his own likeness. His dark brown eyes stared back from the glass as he contemplates his life. He thinks back on why he prefers living in the land of fiction rather than reality.

His world, his reality is cruel to a person like him. He believes that everybody has their own uniqueness, but as time goes on he rarely saw the solidarity and uniqueness that made each individual special. He growled deeply. Was it because they are taught to think like a machine, bent on the will of the ruling elite like what he saw in his school? Or was it his own ego that prevents him from acknowledging their achievements? If so, who is the real deal? Who should he listen to? How can he know if he's honest with himself if he didn't know whom to trust?

To be honest, he spent half his life on the net. That was the time he felt alive, searching, studying, observing…he love the feeling of learning something new because he wants to. While others scolded him to take a hike something through the neighbourhood, he has travelled through much country through his keyboard.

The writer believes that everybody is a writer, and they are writing their life-stories as they go. So far, he saw everybody writing the same story with next to no twist at all, becoming a caricature of themselves to impress people they don't like. How can he be sure he's not writing the same story too?

He didn't see much variation in the stories of reality, so he turned upon the land of the net. There he finally saw a tapestry of different cultures, race and religion as they communicate throughout the world without border. He nodded his head along the mystical tune of ZUN; he fought his way through demon horde in creation of Bethesda, ID and many others. He revisits the terrifying and high-octane world created by Sgt-Mark IV. Most important of all, he saw stories of extreme uniqueness. None was the same as others. He loved every second of it.

While others were busy trying to capture every fanservice they can, he shivered upon the prospect of it in reality. While many were swooning on Shizuka's tits in Highschool of the Dead, he was intrigued by how easily the mind of masses can be swayed through confidence and well-crafted lies. He found himself thinking deeply of how the act of one affects many others. If Naruto hasn't his never-ending strength, what would happen to his legacy? If not for Luffy's insistence on being the King of Pirates, would he meet any of his friends?

One anime got his mind deeply. To be honest, Attack on Titan is the only anime he never watches again. Not because it was terrible, it because the message, the implication behind each scene is too painful, it hits too close to home. He found himself thinking about himself. If the time comes, would he run away, or stand proud to defend everything he cares about?

To be honest, Armin was his favourite. They both share the same conviction. Both of them were always side-lined, but they'll do the right thing when nobody wants too.

Those stories, they came to life because they are like human beings, they have emotion, knowledge, beliefs, strength and their own stories. They have the ability to invoke emotion in the mind of many, but judging on what he has written so far, it seems bland. To Alex, it was painful because he knew him, but for others it was indifference because they barely knew him. He shook his head slowly. Should he write a spin-off about his friends?

He growled deeply. Why? Why is he feeling this strange sense of despair when there was none? Why the world that means nothing to others does hurt him so much-

Wait.

The writer closed his eyes again. The world isn't meaningless. It was his creation; it was his imagination let loose once in a while. The creature inside is his children, then it is normal for him to cry. It is not after all, your own child.

If so, why did he deliberately hurt himself? By killing one of his friends, it means as much as the real deal. He created the world as a power fantasy where he can lives in harmony as himself, through Alex Armin. The answers are obvious. Living in rainbow and sunshine is not living at all. Life is a timeline filled with strife and joy, and without strife how can one fight to obtain joy? This is his life, he was living it. If there's no conflict, then how can he grow stronger?

The writer smiled as the answers start to appear in his mind. There was a reason why he created Alex Armin. It was his embodiment in every world. He may have visited so many worlds, inhabited so many bodies, killed so many, saved many, and even changes the life of many. But he is still Alex Armin, he's still his ambassador.

The writer is Alex Armin himself.

The writer smiled bitterly as he reflects upon his action. True, he may have made him much stronger than he is in real life, but there are some choices that cannot changes. Alex, while he maybe a fiction, it cannot move without its master permission. It is merely a body for the writer to explore. The writer is an explorer, and Alex is his vehicle. All the decision made, it was not Alex's fault, and it was the writer's fault. He was the one who's responsible for everything…

In the end, it was he who fought the demon, it was he who travelled the world, and it was he who made friends.

It was he who killed Fuyuhiko.

He slapped his head hard, focusing himself toward the mission. He is Alex Armin, and he just can't stand there watching his friend's corpse rotting on the ground.

With a strong sense of determination, the writer quickly typed his next move…

I quickly retraced my step toward the mansion. The guilt of losing a friend still hugs my spine like a 90-pound imp. I already wiped the blood off my Karabiner, but I made it a priority to clean it thoroughly once I get in my room. Shoving the muzzle at something's eye is not good for my weapon performance.

I smiled as I saw the mansion grows rapidly at the horizon in every step. It reminds me of my time back in Hell, the horizon is filled with flames, but a single portal pad beckons me forward, forward to the mansion, forward to my family. Outnumbered, alone, in an unknown territory. With a grunt, I quickened my pace. It would be ironic if I end up getting caught just 2 steps away from home.

The field in front of the mansion is clean saves for a few Scarlet Devil employees. The gore has fully evaporated, leaving behind massive bones for us to use. The remaining few soldiers were at work staking out the territory with sharp demon bones. Their bones are sharp enough to not warrant any modification. Just stick it on any ground and it's fine. We use the bones like barbed wires, just places it at places we thought they attack the most.

The gate is still non-existent, but the temporary concrete barricade suffices for any incoming battle. The walls sport several new charred marks beside its existing one. So far, it's still stands proud like the Devil they are. There I saw several of my Scarlet Soldiers repairing the top of the wall. Several engineers were busy reloading the NAG with more ammo. I am a bit worried with our ammo supply. If assaults like this keep up, we would be down on using our hands to battle them. Not that is the problem though; they are after all, Youkais. But it would spell doom for the wounded and human. Not everybody can tear an imp into half.

The guards only nodded as I made my way through the gate. To be fair, I was surprised we survived the ordeal with our human soldier intact. They're the first one to go usually. If my hunch is correct, we may have minimised our casualties for the day. I smiled underneath my hood. Another debt I owed for the kappas.

Wait, is that another demon? I quickly gripped my rifle tightly. Yes, it was bowing down, showing its green hide. I raised my rifle to where his head should be. He was a big bastard, covered in some form of green scales.

The demon raised its head and…it's a large Russian. I deadpanned as I saw his jovial face looking down toward a certain ice fairy. I was surprised by the size of that human. I guess puberty hits him like a train. The heavy dude grinned as he hoisted several large boxes from a jeep. Beside him, Cirno is carrying 2 NSAW akimbo style, ready to stash it somewhere else. They're grinning at each other, acknowledging each other's strength. I have a feeling that the Russkies and Cirno would be great friend.

"Yo Alex!"

I turned my head around. Well it is not my homie Marisa. She struts up to me, her coats covered in blood and charred in several places. Burn marks is normal for every Danmaku player as they relies on grazing every bullets for more points. Blood on the other hand…

"Mari, the hell you doing here? Where's Reimu?" I asked her. She grinned widely, twirling her revolver around. Sometimes I wonder why I teach her how to use a gun. "Ya see, Reimu is still at her shrine, holding off the demons as best as she can. No worries! They have enough supply to last!" She replied, showing off her slick twirling skills. While I knew that revolver has good safety system, I'm still wary of it. Marisa has the tendencies to blow everything she hates up.

Well, so far the Miko Gateway 1 is still operational. It means we can still receive supply from the outside. While we have a few substantial factory and farm to provide our supplies, half of Gensokyo is still in demon's control. The outside is struggling, but they persevere. That's what makes human so strong; as long as there is human, they shall never give up. They never ever quit. They have the drive to push the invader back, to reclaim their home. The determination to descend into the jaws of hell is what makes them strong.

I sighed quietly. If only their leaders aren't a bunch of power-hungry asshole. If they just leave us be, the War might-no, it would NEVER occur in the first place. They fired the first shot, we retaliate. I have no grudge for them though; they are human being, having compassion and mercy. They never actually want to fight in the first place. They had enough. But you know how presidents and dictators act like.

Well, it was fun trying to emulate the Christmas Truce from the First World War. I smiled quietly at the memory. I still remember that one timid private that gave Reisen a piece of carrot. We laughed our ass off for minutes at most. And you know the best part is? I'm not even Christian. And none of the Youkai's is one either.

"Supply caravan inbound!"

I smiled as I saw the trucks going through the gates. It was just a simple military truck coloured in woodland camo, but what they carry is the most important. I smiled at the mother lode of ammunition and material. We need those to rebuild the gate and to be fair, I felt like I shot way more than our store could handle.

I turned around to see my girls, the BFG Division who is in several state of fatigue. Losing themselves in their berserk state cost lots of energy withdrawal. The fallout from the battle took their toll as some of them are lying on something away from the road, knocked out cold.

Alex has returned, and judging by his pale face he probably got spooked to hell or something. Nah, he can handle it. That's what makes him a Scarlet Devil in the first place. Marisa is still cocky, just playing with her pistol. Well, at least she's what she offers. She got more bangs for your bucks in every mission, just like her friend Reimu.

Reimu…That girl was born to fight. Possessing intensely small hitbox, wide damage radius and god-like dodging skill she took on every damned Youkai and won. Hell, there are even rumours that she has stopped being a mortal and ascended to become a God too, much to her annoyance.

Well, here comes sexy eyebrow.

"Captain Hong Meiling. It was nice to meet you. I'm Captain Erwin Smith." He introduced himself formally, as if he was addressing a superior. Talk about protocol! He was a tall, muscular dude, with close-cropped blond hair. His large luscious eyebrows sit above a pair of piercing blue eyes. He was a handsome dude; his strong jaw and nose complement his German face.

"Hey, no need to be formal around here. I'm a captain too. Just call me Meiling" I replied, extending a hand of warm shakes and friendship. He accepted it with a strong firm grip, the grip that says 'I'm the boss' in one motion. All and all, he was as charismatic as Remilia-chan was. He smiled a little. "You see, I am astounded by the performance of your infantry unit. The one clad in green armour and wield chainsaws."

"Oh, you mean the BFG Division?" I asked him. He nodded simply. "Yes, those are one of the toughest motherfucker Gensokyo has in their fox-hole. To be one requires a simple ability of tearing apart an imp with your bare hands and crazy enough to rush into a demon horde barehanded" I spoke that word with pride, knowing that no unit can match their brute strength and kill count. They are all my soldiers, my girls.

His eyes widened at the description. "While I try to hold my suspension aside, I do believe that such feat cannot be done." I smiled at his reply. Oh you had no idea.

"That's why all of them are Youkais. They are stronger than an average human, fiercely loyal to their home ground, naturally bloodthirsty and brave. You won't find anybody that can match their strength." His eyes widened at the sentence. He smiled a small smile, the type that inspires hope in heart of men. "What kind of Youkai you usually use in the unit?"

"Oni. Most of them are Oni's. They have super strength, natural violent tendencies and strong sense of loyalty to each other. We did use some other type like Tengu and such. But race means nothing when you can rip and tear all the way to Hell itself." I explained normally. By the looks of it, he is impressed.

Sexy eyebrow returned the answer with a question; "Are you a Youkai too?"

I only nodded. I actually don't know what kind of Youkai I am, but it doesn't matter. I'm a Chinese Youkai and I'm proud to be one. Who cares if I'm a Kappa, Tengu, Oni or even a freaking magician! I'm a Chinese warrior and that's all to it.

He nodded simply. "Thanks for letting me know." That's it. He gave me a salute and turned around. That's it? "Now hold on a minute there!" I said, stopping him on his track. He turned around slowly, robotically like he was trained to do so. Is this guy even human? "If you have nothing better to do, help us get these supplies at the store. We need as many able-bodied men as we can. Unless…" I trailed away, smiling mischievously for a sick burn.

He ain't having any of that. "I may not be as strong as a Youkai, but I can still help unload a few boxes"

I huffed at the missed opportunity. Well, battle plans never survive against enemy contact. "Let's get going then!"


	4. Chapter 4

I like taking pictures in the infirmary.

Yeah I knew, you expect military journal to have lots of victory picture, guns and badass dude in armour? Not me though, I like to keep myself grounded. You see, military magazine for the masses never actually portrays the full effect of war, despite it is our WHOLE reason why we are here in the first place. Usually you can spot three types of military correspondent. The first one would be the gung-ho god of war, always writing and taking pictures of our victory against the enemy. It was fully propaganda with pictures of guns, glory and dead enemy as 'war spoil'. It only shows the whitewashed Hollywood style of war, the war that we never face and never will. It may be inaccurate, but it sells. The mass don't want to know who our enemy is, they only want to know when we are winning. Typical American.

The second would be the pacifist pity-market, crying out for attention with pictures and stories of gore, sex, violence and every vice imaginable in a war. This is much more accurate in retrospect, but they still fall on the category of who's the bad guy and who's the good guy. They usually sells picture of dying enemy children or crying mother who lost their husband and children, the fruit of our so-called 'victory'. The only time it sells when a bleeding-heart liberal bought it to protest against such futility of war. Of course, they took it with a pinch of salt. It's not American children, it's somebody else. Why would they bother? It doesn't matter if they are men, women, and children or in-between, as long as you belong to the enemy, you are still beside the point.

The third would be the honest journalist, the one who never let politics or marketing get in the way of their stories. They only write what they found, what they learned and what they have to face to obtain that information. Those in that category usually gave zero fucks about what others think. This style of reporting is like reading an excerpt from a life story. A masterpiece if you ask me, unfortunately they hardly sell. The only one who bought it would be the historian or just students who want extra credit for real-life account.

Me? I just want to tell the one back at home what we have to face against to keep you from missing a child. We sacrifice our live so that you can live your life in peace. That's why I love taking pictures of infirmary. No matter how many pictures of guns, glory or enemy carcass you have, it's the boys and girls you sent that has to endure everything.

Every wound, every scream, every missing limb tells a story. _Look at us!_ They screamed, the scarlet wounds glisten in the photograph as I took picture unabashedly. _This is what we have to pay, this is what we have to endure, and for what? For you dumbass!_

Pictures can capture the moment and immortalized them, you can be dead for a thousand years, but in this picture you'll always be your current age. But they can't capture the full essence of the situation. They can show the gaping mouth of a soldier as he screams in pain, but they can't let you hear the high-pitched note as their wounds were treated with burning alcohol. You can't smell the blood, the unwashed urine, the sharp smell of ammonia and disinfectant that permeates the area like a goddamn black plague.

A lone soldier caught my eye. He has a sharp angular face, the hawk-like jaw that intimidates and command respect from everybody. His sharp brown eyes looks like they can pierce any veil of secrets by the way he looks at you. He was wearing a sergeant outfit, his left sleeves were torn off at the shoulders alongside their fleshier comrade, the bloody stump was bound by thick bandages and glowed green courtesy of the Youkai's magic. If anything we can admire them for, it's their healing magic.

He was smiling through the pain, eyeing the rocket launcher to his right. Attracted by his wound and the weapon, I approach him cautiously. He grinned as he saw the camera. With his only working arm, he held up a peace sign as I took a photo of him in his hospital bed.

I observed the name tag on his bloody uniform. "Sergeant Riftky?"

He nodded simply, smiling under that name. "Aye, 21st Infantry Unit from Los Angeles. Yeah, I'm there during the Hellwalker's Push."

The Hellwalker's Push is the name of an event back during the liberation of Los Angeles. Spearheaded by the Doom Marine himself, the 21st, 22nd Infantry Platoon and the 31 Grenadier Unit fought their way through heavy resistance of demons while capturing important area such as factories, water plant, highway and routes for civilian evacuation. It was called the Hellwalker's Push as their final destination is the last major remaining portal from Hell, which became the first time any major attack toward Hell started. As because they fought side-by-side alongside Doom Marine and survived Hell for a moment (They never get past the first stronghold except Doom Marine himself) they are regarded as legendary.

So of course I was surprised by that claim. A member of the legendary unit, right now is in front of me, in a god-forsaken land of Gensokyo could piss any journalist pants. He sighed deeply as he stares into his missing arm. "Yup, served as nothing more than a Private First Class back there. Got promoted multiple times and was recommended for action in Gensokyo. I was supposed to relief the Human unit in this mansion and await further instruction. So far, the only think I'm doing right now is guarding this place." He chuckled as his eyes land on a fairy nurse who is tending his stump. "Well, at least this place has no shortage of hot chicks to look at!"

The wounded near him overheard his sentences, and they shared the sentiment with their own giggles. One guy with his head wrapped like a mummy laughed deliriously, his bandage sports a new spot of scarlet on it. Another fairy nurse appeared, gently lying down the delirious soldier onto the bed. The soldier grinned, petting her blue head as she heals him with a strange magical green glow thingy.

"Sergeant Riftky…"

"Please, call me Rift. That's what my boys call me."

"Right, Rift, can you hold on a minute? I need to pull out my recorder."

"I don't know you can play an instrument." He said. The chuckling from the wounded resumes, which dies again into silence with the thrum of magic in the background. One thing I can respect them Youkai is that their healing magic is superb. Many lives have been saved because one good Youkai in the unit can patch up a 0.50 BMG hole in your stomach. Some even says that they can regrow limb and tissue.

My recorder is simply a black MP3 music player. The different is that it carries 20 GB and it has its own speaker if an earphone is unavailable. I also carry several pair of wireless microphone and earphone in a small case for interviews. Sergeant Rift accepted the clip-on microphone, clipping it onto his lapel. I plugged my earphone and microphone too. Those thing works to convey all the sound into the MP3 as it have no built-in microphone. I decided to start the interview with a good old Q&A session.

"Hello viewers, it's me again Sairento Hito. I'm now currently at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It is Wednesday, 8 November, 2017, around 2100 at night. I am now in a medical wing after a hard siege this evening. No, I'm not injured. I'm fine, still got my arm. However, the one I'm currently interviewing now has lost his. I would like to introduce you to a 21st Infantry Unit veteran. Say hello to Sergeant Riftky"

"At ease soldier, just call me Rift. I don't like formalities unless I'm with my boss." His reply brought a fresh wave of giggle from his wounded friend. He smiled at me. "What? I'm a joker."

"Batman! Joker's here!" The same bandage-swathed soldier yelled his sentence that ends in a hoot of delirious laughter. The same nurse that is tending him disapproves, telling him to lie down or else he dies from shock and exertion. He complied, grinning underneath his bandage.

The commotion has died down, allowing me to resume the interview.

"So, how did you end up here?"

"Just my luck I guess" he replied. "You see, after Los Angeles and Boston finally stabilized enough for us to focus on other region, they decided that we need to extend our help onto everybody as America must help others obtain their freedom'" He smiled grimly at the statement. I nodded quietly. "You see, there's this country by the name of Gensokyo who has been quite disapproving of us outsiders, but just because they hate us doesn't mean we have to abandon them toward their fate! So they sent us, the gullible and willing to this land to help them fight the demonic invader. I have done my duty in Los Angeles, but they need soldiers like me, veteran badass that can fight until they die. As because of my combat record, I was sent onto this godforsaken land of Gensokyo as a sign of cooperation between countries after the disastrous conflict. I was originally assigned just to guard the place until new unit came to relieve me. So far, nobody has come relieving me yet."

I nodded. "So, what happened to your arm?"

He grimaced, shutting his eyes for a moment as the memory kicks in. "A Cacodemon got my arm out of nowhere. I was at the east gate of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, on top of the left watchtower upon the gate. The gate was busted in, so my job is to ensure that no fucker gets through. I blasted those bastards back to Hell with my M249 SAW, the same machinegun I used back in Los Angeles."

He beckoned at the gun at his side. "I mean, not the EXACT gun, but it was the same model, I found myself attached to this baby. Back to topic, the bastard hugged the wall, just silently floating against the wall until suddenly it pooped out of nowhere." He made a quick explosion motion with is hand. "One second I was blasting them fools back to Hell, the next the goddamn thing just jumped on me like a fucking horror jumpscare movie. The only difference is that I lost an arm and I have no popcorn to throw it at it." He chuckled at his own joke.

"So, how did you get it off?"

He smiled, making a pistol with his working hand. "While the fool is chewing on my arm, I pulled out my sidearm." He grimaced. "Fucking sidearm just had to be a goddamn 9mm does it? But that's military regulation, so I can't complain. If I got a bigger calibre I might've still have an arm. But I didn't, so my buddy behind me then busted its eye with his antique rifle and shot it while it was stunned. He then proceeds to bind up what's left of my arm. Dude might not save my arm, but he saved my life."

"All right. Thanks for the input sergeant Rift. Do you have plan after this? Maybe return back to D.C on veteran pension?"

He laughed at my question. Even some of his friend laughed too. I gave him a smile of understanding.

He ceased his laughter to point his working hand onto the grenade launcher at his side. It was an M79 single-shot grenade launcher. It was a favourite for mercenary and survivor group outside the military. I personally prefer the ARWEN 37 semi-auto grenade launcher, but hey, beggars can't be chooser.

"I don't think the war gonna end soon. Plus, what am I supposed to do after discharge? Teaching ungrateful kids?" he smiled again. "Judging by how horrible this situation was, I believe it will be quite a while before I can breathe sigh of relief. So, I decided to attach this grenade launcher on my missing arm."

"Are you sure?" I asked uneasily. He nodded.

"Ay, I thought at first about attaching my iconic SAW, but that thing is way too heavy for frantic one-armed shoot-out. I rather not have it ripped off again and again thank you very much. The launcher on the other hand is simple enough to operate, light, and pack a punch. I might carry a bagful of 40mm with me to use it. Well, I still use a gun, but anything heavier than an assault rifle is out"

"I guess you'll be using submachinegun?"

"Maybe" He shrugged his shoulder. "Just make sure the calibre is at least 45 and above. Anything below it just pisses them off. Bad news as 9mm is practically the most abundant and widely-used ammo type in the world."

"All right, thanks for the input." I said. "So, next question, can you tell me what happened during the Push?"

He closed his eyes for the moment. "Yes. But you gotta bear with me; it's a long journey ahead of ya."

"We have time" I replied, looking at my watch.

"Okay. Here I go" he shifted his position for best comfort. He end up just the way I met him, lying on his back and still. "I was just a Private back there, but I already saw enough combat to scar me for life. The opening attack was RUTHLESS. They just teleported in and starts to chew…they just ate and chew their way throughout the city. How? I don't know. Long story short, major city fell and we have to evacuate to Hawaii, one of the surviving military base. Florida was overrun and Georgia is full. Don't get me started on the one in L.A. So Hawaii is our last shot." He stopped for a moment, trying to recompose himself. "I still remember, we were holed up in this warehouse, I and my platoons were tasked on taking care of civilians. Even then they are either the luckiest one or the prepared one. They're by a handful, which made it easier to protect and control. An angry mob is the last thing we need."

"But we were delaying the inevitable. We may have enough supply to last us for a year or two, but ammo is certainly our biggest priority. We wasted so many every day, mind you; a single mag of 5.56mm round can only kill 2 pinkies or 4 imps. They are tough bastard, and we have to use so much bullet. It was god's blessing that they equipped the Zombies with guns but neglected proper firearm training. We just took them down silently and quickly loot their body of their ammunition and supply. Most of them are soldiers, so ammo and rations are plentiful. The others…"

He trailed away, staring wishfully onto the cold ceiling of the medical chamber. The mansion's purple inner wall glows mysteriously as the many Gothic chandeliers were lit up by magic and electricity. "…Anyway, we survived 2 weeks scraping until Doom Marine come in out of the woodwork."

"Now hold on a minute" I interrupted him. "You were there for 2 weeks?"

He nodded. "2 weeks, 2 weeks of intense hell. We lost so much asset and manpower defending those civilian back there. We can't get out, the entire route were heavily infested with demon. Cyberdemons patrol the significant part of the city, controlling the invasion as best as they can. The Spider Mastermind is watching over the highway and has blasted it down, barring any exit of survivors. To top it off, the command has bombed the city for days, making the trek for safety even more treacherous. Our only hope is the evac helicopter, but even then we know it was too much to ask for."

"The invasion hit the world HARD. It's like they knew we have just lost a war and decided to rub it in our face. China's population lost a quarter of their number in the first 3 days. The military in Japan has all but withdrawn, leaving behind the massive Yakuza organization to take care of Japan. They did a good work; in fact, they also helped out in evacuating a huge number of citizens out. Another reason to respect the Jap." He then raised his one working arm for a salute. "They hold off for quite a while though, much longer than any of us did. I haven't heard of them since."

"So practically, while everybody was still reeling from the blow, we have to fend off hundreds of demons every day without hope of backup. If that was not enough to send you into despair, hearing the frantic radio signal from the stranded marine and survivor does. Some would stumble upon a working radio or even make one, they would ask for help, for anything, anybody to rescue them. Of course we didn't do anything. We are barely scraping as it is"

"It got worse after Hell." He said, his face became even more painful as the story goes. "We heard whispers, moans and outright screams coming from our radio time to time. Sometime, we can hear someone plead for its capturer to kill him. The whispers felt like it came from inside your head, the moan sounds like someone you loved is in pain. Some of my buddies can't take it, blasting their head off as the whispers kept growing inside their head. Some opted to fight recklessly, seeking peace and quiet with the thundering gunfire of their weapon." He smiled grimly. "There's a reason why I love my machinegun."

"Anyway, one day we were attacked by a contingent of Hell spawns. We were used to this, so we just opened fire on them. Suddenly, right just around the street corner, the Doom Marine walks in like nothing ever happened! He just walks in and saw us shooting them bastard. When he saw the demons though…" He grinned widely. "Fuckers didn't stand a chance. He just went in there with his shotgun blazing and just killed all of them. When he ran out of shells, he tore at them with his fist. I tell ya, that would be a nightmare fuel if you're a demon."

"Anyway, he just gave us a nod and walk right in. He wore the same armour that the BFG Division of this mansion wore. I heard it was the UAC Hazardous Combat Suit. He just walks in there, his space helmet on his head, and he walked away from the base. A day after, we were ordered to simply MARCH outside, following Doomguy's path"

He chuckled. "Of course we were upset. We thought it'll be suicide. How wrong we were. It was EMPTY, like a ghost town. The only thing he left in his wake is a pile of bullet casing and corpses. Nothing survived at ALL. Nothing, not even the big bad boss themselves. In a single street alone, we found a huge amount of Cyberdemon gore and pieces lying around on the same street. Turn out it belongs to 4 Cyberdemon and 1 Spider Mastermind. It wasn't even killed by carpet bombing no; they were all blasted by rocket-propelled grenades." He smiles awkwardly. "Many said that he only uses one semi-auto RPG like the ARWEN RPG, but I always imagined him dual-wielding two rocket launchers while running around at full speed."

He chuckled at his own word. "That's another crazy thing about that dude. No matter what weapon he used, nor what he was carrying, he always runs at top speed. Don't know how, he just did. I once saw him play tag with dozens of Hell Knights while carrying a fucking minigun. And not even once he ever slowed his pace. He practically left us to dust when our push started. It's a good thing though; somehow it reduces the number of casualties that fateful day."

"So yeah, we manage to get our ass to Manhattan Beach where the Navy escorted them civvies. Just about time we thought we can finally rest, suddenly we have to regroup with another battalion at Compton." He smiled sardonically. "The collective groan from my buddies can be heard all the way to Hell, but we're soldiers, so we bit our lips and march on. After reuniting with the main battalion, we had to storm the biggest portal of Hell right at somewhere near Downtown Los Angeles."

"We were on a verge of riot at that statement, but our fear was replaced when we saw what we are packing." He smiled triumphantly at the memory. "300 Marines, 10 Abram tanks, 20 armoured personnel vehicle and even a couple of fighter jets. If a lone marine can take on the whole demon horde in the city, what about a whole battalion of determined marines?"

The door at the medical station opened, revealing Sanae and an unknown woman trailing from behind. The woman is eye-catching. She wore a jet black maid outfit consisted of an aproned blouse and ankle-high skirt. Over her outfit is a pink trench coat with the lacing and straps coloured in red and the buttons are shining gold. Around her neck is a simple necklace consisted of a heart-shaped ruby inlaid with gold. A big black book was attached to her black belt, opposite to her black pistol, which is attached with a silencer. The most maddening of all, she carries a highly-modified NAR-02. The stock of the integrated grenade launcher was painted blinding gold, so was the muzzle, trigger, Picatinny rail sight and its handle. The gun body was disgustingly pink in exception to the original light blue. I shook my head at such ridiculous armament. With that entire pink and black accessory, she could've just strip herself naked and doused herself with steak sauce and it won't make much difference.

Sergeant Rift noticed the new soldier with a nod. "Ah yes, the sad pink killing doll. Her name's Gakkuri, which means heartbroken in Japanese. Why the hell she's so upset about is beyond me, but she is a capable fighter, if that flamboyant nature didn't get in the way."

She was following Sanae, who is busy tending on the blonde survivor. You know the one Louise mistakes for his deceased wife? Gakkuri has a strange exotic, Indian look with her tan skin and shapely Indian visage. Her two black hairs were tied in a ponytail with the aid of two pink ribbons (Dear god, I might shot her by accident because she's as pink as a Pinkie) and her eyes were…empty.

"I'll interview her later." I said to sergeant Rift. "If you wouldn't mind…"

"Oh right sorry. Where was I…?" He scratches the back of his head for a moment to recompose him for the next dialogue. "Oh right, we were locked and loaded, therefor the logical step is to move forward. We arrived at the portal relatively unscathed, thanks to Doomguy's 'handiwork' " He stresses out the last word nasally, giving me an ominous chill upon my spine. "We didn't fire a single shot at all. When we reach the portal we saw him just chilling right in front of the portal, playing around with the corpse of some strange wood-like demon. I remember it as an old tree that bears fire instead of leaves."

"The true fight begins when we entered the portal. Demons literally poured out of every orifice on the ground and cave walls. Now we believe that the Pinkies and Imps are wildlife as they are the bulk of the demon we have to fight. With reinforcement and Doomguy at front, we ploughed our way through. Hell does not look like a blazing fire, but more like a wasteland mesa. Sharp and craggy rock dotted the surface of every hill and mountain we have to face. The smell of sulphur, petrol and brimstone is overpowering, forcing some of us to equip our mask for safety. In all my life of wandering, I never saw such brutal display of rage and anger in a single man. He just went in UNARMED and just tore everything apart with his bare hands. The only time he backed up is when we faced a Cyberdemon at a junction. Even then he stopped just to grab another grenade launcher."

"While most people believe in his act, some are still sceptical of his action, hinting something about demonic possession or something. Most outright called him a demon. What do you think?" I asked him, the story of Doom Marine being quite fantastical like every account I heard before.

He shook his head. "I don't really care about what those fools said. It was not THEM who have to fight off demons and saw your buddies got eaten. He kills as best as his legend says, and that's fine by me. Demons or not, he was a marine and he serves his country well. But I do believe that he's anything but human. Normal human being cannot tear an Imp in half with bare hands."

"Is there a possibility of him being a Youkai?"

He smiled sardonically at my question. "He can't be a Youkai; he has no horn!"

His friend laughed beside him, catching the joke. The same delirious soldier raised his hand in a devil's horn, grinning underneath his linen. The nurse shook her head, apparently giving up on restraining anything at all. Sanae and her crew don't care or notice at all, having their own emotional reunion and crap.

"Like I said, we don't care if he's a demon or not. But I do remember him always grunting every second like he was a monster or something. Not a demonic grunt or anything, just grunts. Now let's get back to topic, I do think this interview is about me right?"

"Oh right! I'm sorry." I replied sheepishly. He chuckled good-naturedly.

"Anyway…" He started again. "You see, we didn't go all the way in. halfway through, a huge fortress looms over us. I dare say, those demons know where to put their bases at. Their castle's is 12 feet tall; they got Cyberdemons and Spider Demons blasting us from their perches like a sharpshooter in their watchtower. Separating us from them beside the obviously high wall is a river of lava with only one way through; a small bridge that was guarded by more demons. If that's not enough for you, they even got 20mm cannons up their parapets; ready to mow down any motherfucker tries to get in. Hell even Doomguy himself has to wait behind the tanks until we blow up those damned Cybers. " He grinned wider. "That's where we come in. We blasted the fucker off their perches; it seems that they don't know that concrete wall's worst enemy is a tank's 40mm round fired from an M1 Abrams. That's as far as we got though. There's no gate and we can't scale up there. But HE can."

"He?" I asked him.

He smiled ironically. "Fucker stripped himself down to his pistol and fist, climbed the cracks and hills we made from the wall and just walks in. We never heard of him again. But someone else did."

"Who?" I asked him, intrigued.

"Why, it's Alex Armin, the explorer of this damned base. Fucker also the dude who saved my ass back there." He grinned again. "Bastard is one unique dude; you can clearly understand why he's an original member of the Scarlet Devil. He should be somewhere in the Library, talking to that hot Librarian Scientist-Magician whatever you called. He works directly under her I think. Just find an Asian dude with glasses, black hoodie and black armour all over him. He's practically black all over. If that's not enough, he also carries an antique bolt-action rifle. A Nazi sniper rifle if you need more detail."

"Little fuck busted the wall in with a Spider Mastermind. Delirious and tired, we manage to get him out of the portal into the light of Earth. He said that going in there would be unnecessary as 'Doomguy trap himself in to keep those demons in'" He scratched his head a bit. "He also says that it's much better if we just focus on finding the portal and shutting them down from each stronghold and outpost, and he said that only the shrine maidens of Gensokyo can achieve that."

"What happens next?" I asked him.

He frowned deeply. "He was not pretty I tell you. His armour was scratched and dented in several different places; it was literally hanging from mere tattered straps on his hoodie. His hoodie is smelly and ragged, being covered in blood in every single direction. His face was bruised and bloody, his spectacle still stuck in its place because of its straps. He was walking with a limp and his antique rifle was smeared with blood, its bayonet scratched and bloodied also. He nearly shot us on sight when he saw us. Just as he put a foot outside the portal into Earth, another portal appeared. This time it's not the demon who did it."

"Who opened it?" I asked him.

"A Youkai. She wore this strange extravagant Victorian era dress. She was a blondie if I can remember." He replied simply. "We didn't trust that hoe, but he seems to be cool. She just grabs him by his hand and just shoved him into the portal. She followed suit before we can do anything." He smiled sardonically. "Never thought I'll find him here. And that's the story so far."

I raised an eyebrow upon his statement. "Really? He just up and left?"

He nodded again. "Motherfucker said that he's going back home"


	5. Chapter 5

Patchouli Knowledge was a busy woman.

She barely remembers the day where she relaxes a bit. Her only waking moments were filled with researches and experiment for any kind of subject that caught her interest. Mostly it was magic-related as she was a magician above all. Sometime she made some time to train Alex about the usefulness of Danmaku, which is practically useless against the demon invaders.

Alex was the mechanical type who was more comfortable on putting his faith on machineries rather than abstract magic. While Alex successfully used magical spells to a certain degree, he usually spend half his researching time on technologies, hence the reason why he was a good friend with Nitori Kawashiro. Ironically, his research on weapons are the one that saved their lives many years ago, as the weapon they use to fight the invader was conjured up by him and Nitori.

Patchouli on the other hand loves magic. Magic to her felt like an extra body part, and the thought of removing it hurts as if it would draw blood if it was done. Magic combines the element of faith and science into a single symbiosis that can be used by anybody with the proper equipment. The proper equipment would be grimoires, as the book would usually contain many spells a spellcaster need and cannot afford to memorize at any moment soon.

Her slender finger traces a circle over a piece of hard skin that belongs to a pinkie, which she was trying to determine its composition. The armour plating at the head of some select pinkies is organic as its main substances are keratin. Keratin is a type of protein that creates hair, nails and other miscellaneous substance on a human body. Bird's beaks are typically made of keratin as they are lightweight yet hard enough to withstand everyday abuse.

Yet, this type of armoury appears to grow on certain type of Pinkies, as if it was starting its evolution into a certain new breed of Pinkies. Pinkies that can withstand bullets, pinkies that can bash their way to victory yet retain their most damaging attack, their bite.

She shook her head as she observed the next specimen, the teeth of the Pinkies. It was tremendous; the length of the tooth equals to 8 inches and has the diameter of 3 inches, making it a formidable weapon against the humans. She tested the tip of the tooth with her finger. She understand why Alex said that he once used those as a makeshift dagger; the tooth is large enough to be held in a hammer grip, but it's still sharp enough to penetrate deep into any flesh.

How did he rip one of these out of a Pinkie's mouth is unknown, yet that is not what she were thinking about. What she observed from the specimen was that a simple Darwinism evolution is applicable onto the demon horde, and that is a huge issue. The demons while powerful, they are still creature of flesh, and bullets can penetrate their body just like a human can.

From what she gathers from these, the pinkies are having an evolution on their behalf, growing simple body armour to withstand small-arms much more effectively. That alone is a cause of worry. A regular demon is dangerous enough on its own, but adding armoured demon into the mix? That is a potentially game changer. Bullets are the main way of combating this threat, but if they find a way to negate the effectiveness of such method, it will spell doom onto the human race.

Her mind was racing, every ounce of her knowledge used up to find a solution for this growing problem. While the evolution process is slow, but it doesn't mean that it never happened. Judging from the past war against demons, it would be appropriate to think that the demon legion would've wised up and decides to make some modification.

It also means that next time they initiate another attack; they would be stronger than normal.

She sighed deeply, rubbing her head as the headache starts to set in. being a magician means that she can have the option of being immortal, as in abandoning the need of the body for nourishment and rest. But the body requires fuel like any other kind; therefore the spell negates the need for _physical nourishment_ by using mana to maintain the body's requirement to stay alive. She has casted both long before the Scarlet Devil mansion moved to Gensokyo.

But it doesn't mean that she is impervious to stress, in fact, they are much more susceptible to any form of mental degradation than any other type of Youkai outside. Her migraine is a glaring proof of that.

She knew that her research would mean life and death for the troops on the battlefield. Her friends are on the battlefield, fighting against unspeakable horror while she is safe and sedentary behind walls of scarlet brick, unable to help at all. The only ways she can help is by learning as much as she can about the enemy and try to find a way to defeat them for good.

If she miscalculated just a little bit, she might lose her friends. She can't afford that. But it also means that she has to shoulder a huge burden on her behalf. The life of her friends on the battlefield lies on her shoulder, and her ability to improve the army on the ground.

She reached for a cup of Darjeeling tea, hoping that the soothing liquid would calm her raging mind. The light of the study lamp was jarringly bright, hurting her eyes a bit due to the poor lighting of the library. The unsettling silence of the library weighs heavily on the back of her neck. A heightened sense of paranoia threatens her calm state of mind. The household was quite, most of the employees of the mansion rested on midnight. And here she was, burning the midnight candle alone, vulnerable, tired.

Someone's coming.

Patchouli quietly puts her hand inside her pyjama pocket, feeling for the plasma handgun specifically created for her. Her senses instantly sharpened as her FOCUS spell starts to kick in. She can smell the sweat of a man, tinted with a hint of demonic aura. She can hear the breathing of her stalker, its laborious breathing a sign that he was scared for his life, which is supported by the fast heartbeat she was hearing now. She frowned as she turned around.

"The screams won't stop?"

Just a few distances away from her, Alex quietly nodded. His face was sickening pale, a trait that was unseen ever since Yukari returned him back to the mansion. His dark brown eyes glisten with unshed tears and longing. He has abandoned his rifle, opting to carry his pistol on his waist instead.

She shook her head once. "Alex, you do know the consequences if they caught us doing this you know?"

He nodded once, understanding her word. But his eyes still locked on her violet eyes, an extreme yearning evident in his gaze. His face was still pale, the nightmare that he has not released its grip yet. She sighed. The soothing medication made by Eirin wasn't strong enough for Alex, and trying to increase the dosage would turn him into an addict, or a corpse.

"Fine, come here Alex."

He doesn't need to be told twice. With a breakneck speed he charged toward the fair magician, only to pause within her arm's length. Slowly, he let her pulls her into an embrace. Patchouli felt that the chair was not a comfortable place for a snuggle, hence she decides to guide him toward the nearest beanbag chair. Alex quietly follows her lead, his hands grip on the hem of her skirt, afraid that he'll lose her if he let go.

Patchouli lay onto the chair in a comfortable posture as she knew that he would snuggle on top of her. Alex followed suit, pressing his face onto her bosom. His arms were still around her waist, afraid to let go lest he would lose her in his nightmare. Patchouli quietly blushes as his face nuzzles on her chest like a child wanting his mother's affection. Finally, he settles down on a comfortable spot at her chest, his face buried at her heart. She felt a certain wetness on her chest as Alex decides to cry into her heart.

She closed her eyes, and waited for sleep to overcome her. Soon, the cries of her friend dies down, leaving them both in a peaceful slumber.

Unseen to them, a certain soldier was observing the lover's slumber.

Hito was using one of the library's huge bookcases as a cover, which the darkness helped out in quite a good way. Unknown to many, he was an avid bookworm, hence the reason why he became a military correspondent in the first place. The library houses one of the largest book collection he ever saw, and in his zeal, he finally forgot the passage of time.

Not that it matters anyway, the midnight was a good time for marines such as he, as there was no schedule after midnight. But he was taught to catch as much sleep as they can, therefore sleeping was a priority.

But what he witnessed was the biggest scoop he can ever imagine. Alex was the famous Hell Walker, one of the rare legendary who has gone to hell and returned outside the Hellwalker's push. He was also rumoured to be one of the first one to fight his way out of a circle of Hell with conventional weaponries. He was also a prominent weapon engineer, most of their reliable weaponries made together with a famous engineer named Nitori Kawashiro.

Patchouli Knowledge was an eminent scientist, her research valuable for the Human race as well as Gensokyo's to combat against the demon invasion. She was responsible for the successful on-going mission to liberate Gensokyo and part of Earth with her research on the weakness of demons and the many item used by the troops on the battlefield that increases their survival rate dramatically. Any soldier who made it this far owed her for their success.

Seeing both of them in a scandalous situation, it would be stupid of him not to take advantage. Imagine the popularity of his magazine if he published this! Imagine how much royalties he can get! This was probably the only time he can get such an opportunity.

Like a famous rapper once said; if you had one chance, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it, or would you let it slip?

Hito reluctantly pocketed his camera and slowly walk away.

Hito sighed as he closed the Library's door. It is past his bedtime.

Hito actually understand why he did what he did in the library. He saw it often, being a military correspondent means that he will meet some people who are fucked in the head for being in the game too long. He too, also got the same problem from time-to-time. You cannot emerge from a war still the same man before, the smell of trenches is still strong even if you wear royal garment.

Judging by the story he heard about this man, he is glad that at least he has somebody to keep him sane, unlike him. His battle buddies are the only people that matters to him. He knows that he'll go into a mental breakdown if Sanae was killed in action.

"That was nice of you."

Hito turned around; his hand flew onto his holster. What greets him is a maid. The maid screams elegance just by her appearance and aura alone. She was a silver-haired girl, her face young and beautiful despite her extremely white hair. The hair glistens in the moonlight like silver, giving her an almost metallic form. Her pale skin was smooth, not a single defect can be seen to mar the perfect maid. She wore a French Maid outfit which consisted of a white apron over her dark blue dress. She wore a simple maid hat over her head; its only reason is to keep the hair in line. Her blue eyes stared into Hito's purple eyes. He tries his best not to stare at her luscious thigh, which was held by a simple pair of white leggings in a pair of black shoes.

"Did you spy on me?"

She smiled once. "No. I was on my final leg in cleaning when I saw you walk out of the library."

Hito nervously smiled. "Did you see anything?"

The silver maid only smiled coyly. "I did see a little mouse scurrying around the library though. But that's beside the point. I want to thank you for not taking advantage of this situation."

Hito smiled back, his nervousness abated a little as he starts to recover his own professional intelligence. "Of course I'm not gonna post that. Who do you think I am; a gossip writer? What would post that achieve other than harm?"

She tilted her head to the left a little. "hm, really? "

Hito shook his head. "Come on, I may be an asshole, but I have standard. My article is NOT a teenage magazine of gossipy bullcrap. It's a serious, down-to-earth magazine, where you can find reliable and accurate article written by a journalist that experienced the event the writer was boasting about."

She smiled back, satisfied by the answer. "You are quite dedicated to your work. I can respect that."

Hito sheepishly grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Gee, thanks. I mean, that's what a journalist should do right? Isn't it like, their actual goal in the first place?"

She nodded once. "I believe that's why you are in the library? Mr…"

"Hito, Sairento Hito. Just a simple private of the US Army. I'm just a military correspondent, or simply a weaponized journalist."

"Sakuya Izayoi, head maid of the Scarlet Devil. I keep this place clean." The now dubbed Sakuya introduced herself. Hito doesn't know why, but he felt a certain danger just by being around her. Was she that intimidating?

"Anyway, gotta go miss! It's past my bedtime anyway." Hito said, wanting to get out as fast as possible. Whoever this maid was, he sure doesn't want to be alone with her, even if she has thick thighs.

"Goodnight private Hito"

"Yeah…Good night miss Sakuya"

And the two servants depart from each other. One is the servant of human, the other a servant of a devil.

"Miss Patchouli, I believe it's time to wake up."

Patchouli Knowledge opened her eyes slowly, the morning light that streams from the windows stung her eyes as she groaned softly. Sleeping is something that she doesn't need anymore, but it was a nice form of respite from everyday stress that she faced in her life. Many magicians like her resort to sleeping despite not needing it, as only sleep can bring the quite they need in a life filled with noise.

She felt a strange weight on her chest, so she reached out with her other hand. Hair, soft smooth hair parted way when she moves her finger across her bedfellow's skull. She opened her eyes completely, her vision cleared thanks to magic.

Alex was still cuddling her; a small smile of contentment adorned his face. His face is serene, like Buddha after attaining tranquillity. Being an explorer who constantly meet and spar with gods made him lose what faith he has left on his former god, discarding the wishful faith of old for the hard, cold Danmaku sent from a Living God of miracles.

Patchouli knows he deserves a rest after everything happened to him, but she got works to do.

"Koakuma, please get him off me." She ordered the beautiful red-haired succubus that is watching over them. Unlike the popular depiction of succubus, she wears a simple conservative black dress that resembles a scholar outfit. She has a pair of black bat wings and a pointy devil tails, but that was it. She also has a pair of batwing on her forehead that acts like a horn. Her scarlet hair is redder than Meiling's hair, which is a pleasant shade of red and some gold tint. Her hair was a complete shade of scarlet like the blood that her employers loved to drink.

"But he looks so cute sleeping with you!" She protested.

"Do I look like I care? Just get him off me."

Koakuma sighed in protest, but she did it anyway. Alex then stirred as she picked him up effortlessly, but he's still fast asleep. Koakuma smiled, and then bend her face lower to Alex's ear… And bit at it hard.

Alex woke up screaming and lashing, his eyes wide open in fear. Koakuma apparently was used to this as she endures his blows without flinching. Alex then stopped himself when his hand touched her luxuriant hair. As if the demons were purged from his mind, his movement became less violent and more subdued. In the end, he just stroke Koakuma's hair, as if wondering if she was real or not.

"Yes I am real Alex, now wake up sleepyhead, its morning!"

Alex sheepishly grinned. Then Koakuma unceremoniously dropped him on the beanbag chair, eliciting a yelp from the veteran Hell Walker. He collected his composure and faced Patchouli, smiling along the way. "What is your order my mistress?"

Patchouli stared back nonchalantly. "Take a bath hippie, and come back here. I'll need your assistance"

He smiled, then he turned around and leave them be. Nobody said a word until he passed the door. Koakuma faced her boss with a smile. Patchouli raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked the red-haired temptress.

"That was the first time I ever saw him sleep peacefully"


	6. Chapter 6

I gotta admit, one of the places I love to go is the armoury.

One of the perk of being in the army is that you can play around with exclusive military grade weaponries and can carry them whenever you like, and no fucking anti-gun nutcase can protest anything! They always say that guns are the problems, yadda yadda yadda. But did they even consider why the Second Amendment was created in the first place?

But I admit, owning a gun is not as fun as shooting one. That's why like every responsible adult out there, once I hit 18 I applied for a gun licence, perform a tribal dance, buy a gun, and then practice it at the range once in a while. The gun then would be stashed under my bed for the rest of my life. I still remember my first handgun I bought, a simple 0.38 Colt revolver from the local gun store. Back then, I knew next to nothing on guns, and I bought the revolver because I watched way too much Wild West movie in my youth. The same handgun has saved my life when the demons first came.

The revolver? I gave it to a certain woman back in Newark during the opening siege of the Second Hell on Earth incident.

I pondered upon the past as I stared into the gun locker, thinking back of how it all started. I travelled to Gensokyo as a journalist during the Cold War some odd years ago. After that fiasco ended, I found myself travelling several other places, notably cities to cover the politician there. The demons came when I am writing about some drivel from a recent White House Debate. I don't remember what they are arguing about, but I do remember a zombie bashed down the door on my apartment and trip on my large stack of paperwork. I'm thankful that it's only a zombie that time. If it was something other than a zombie…

Strange, I found out that being a combat journalist is pretty easier than my previous civilian company did. It was soothing to not worry about the bloated bureaucracy in the past when I could get my head chewed any second later. I fought for this article; I deserve to write whatever I found. I just need to make sure that I didn't write down any sensitive top secret shit or something along the line. It was fine by me; most of them are not relevant to my article to be honest.

Anyway, I was searching for a much better weapon than my M16. While it was pretty reliable, I felt that it lacked the stopping power needed to take down my enemies. Seriously, I have to empty the whole 30 round on a single Baron before he even fucking notice a thing! 5.56 is just average when fighting low-tier demons, but wholly underpowered when fighting larger demons. I need something bigger, like a 7.62.

What about buckshot? Sanae was a fond user of shotgun and it's variant. Plus, Doomguy was famous for his extensive use of pump-action shotgun during the previous war. How long was the first war actually? Maybe around 40 years ago? I was not born during that war, but I was born at just the right age to cover the late stage of Youkai Cold War.

Shotgun has a very good stopping power, which was very needed when fighting against demons. Plus, it was easy to learn and use one actually. Should I get a pump-action? Or maybe a semi auto? If so, what kind of shells I need? Buckshot or slug? Sanae always carry two packs of shells for her shotgun. One for slugs and one for buckshot. That way, she can alternate between sniping and close-quarter combat.

The problem is, slug was designed for bores that rifled, not smooth. While most shotgun shells was created for smoothbore, slugs would do better in rifled barrel, but a rifled barrel would not be good to use with a buckshot as the shots would be wildly inaccurate. Smoothbore is better, but rifled barrel beats smoothbore in accuracy.

This is a pickled situation; should I go for accuracy, or should I go for spread?

"What about SMG?"

"No that won't do, I need stopping power. I had enough of being slammed by pinkies over and over again."

"What about .50 Cal?" My new companion asked.

"Not a bad idea, but I don't want to carry a huge-ass machinegun everywhere."

"How about a Barret .50?"

"That's not a bad idea actually." I said, turning around to face my companion. "So, you came here for weapons and stuff?"

"Nah, I just wanna check out the new shit the caravan brought in" my companion, who is now a she, replied. My eyes instantly widened at the overdose of pink and gold in front of me. It was Gakkuri. Her brown eyes stared back into my own brownies. While my eyes were tired, she was more like a doll, artificial yet alive.

"So, long time no see."

I was surprised. What? I never saw her in my who-

She quickly shut me up by pulling a revolver from her pocket. My breath disappeared along with my question. It was my first pistol.

She snickered at my bewildered look. "Changed it to 0.357 in the past. Fucking demons shrugged off the 0.38 Special like pebbles."

It was the same handgun I gave to a woman back in Newark that day, that fateful day. My eyes then travelled to her face, trying to find a semblance of memory on her visage. Slowly, a picture formed in my head as my mind starts to remember the event much clearly.

I remember an Indian woman, her face pale with fear and dirty from dirt and dust. Her face was clean and shapely, like a doll. She was hiding behind a table in a diner where I was hiding when one of those large mecha-spiders walks by. It took us both everything to not sneeze or whimper at every footfall.

I remember looting a dead policeman's corpse for his weapon and vest. I grabbed the dude's Glock and gave the 0.38 to the woman, knowing full well that a 9mm might be better than my personal revolver. I also took the vest too, as I said that I'll be taking lead.

I remember the horrifying day during the opening attack. The sky was red, a colour that was unnatural and unsettling. Hordes of people were scattered around, running from the demons that came out of thin air. The highway was clogged with cars, so we opted on taking the back alleys. We got lost and end up making a full circle in the neighbourhood.

I still remember the desperation in our heart and breath, the bulletproof vest felt heavy and hot over my frail journalist body. A truncheon in one hand and a pistol in another, we doggedly jogged our way throughout series of houses and shops, our paranoid mind conjures the demon from every dark corner.

I remember an explosion or something, maybe a gas explosion perhaps? Then, I remember bits and pieces when I was extracted. A shape leered over me, which was quickly thrown by an unseen force. I remember the sensation of being carried into a suffocating vehicle, and that was it. I woke up in an evacuating centre somewhere in a large supermarket, my weapon confiscated and my wound dressed. But no sign of the Indian woman I travelled with.

I don't remember where I am going to, a safer place perhaps? But where? Where is safe? Where is dangerous? I don't know, the only thing that kept me going was fear, and that fear turned me into something else in the future.

And here I am, a few months after that day, a hardened soldier who fought demons left and right, finally reunited with the same woman I travelled with, who is now a flamboyant mercenary for hire. Time really change people.

"I believe this belongs to you private. Unless you like your new pistol…"

She was giving me my pistol, my original revolver. So many things went through my mind, the memories that associate me with this firearm. I smiled at the pink fighter and gently placed the revolver back into her hand. "Keep it; think of it as a keepsake for my behalf"

She giggled slightly, and then she proceeds to twirl the revolver in a reckless and showy fashion before holstering it back inside her jacket. I was burning with question for her. Who was she? What happened in the past? How did she survive?

"Could you please wait for a moment? I need to get an interview with you."

She raised an eyebrow at this. "Whoa, why dude? I mean, we just met"

I quickly retrieved the earphone and microphone and handed it to her. "Miss, I am now a journalist. My job is to record what happened in the war. You helped me out in the first opening of the war. Your testimony is very important for me, please?"

She smiled again, and then she placed the equipment at the corresponding area. "Wow, never expected you to be here of all places. You said please, so I'll play ball." She said, grinning along the way. "Name's Gakkuri, native of Gensokyo and Doll Magician."

"Doll Magician?" I asked her, my recording tool ready and prepped. "All right, before we continue, this is an interview with one of my first companion back during the opening siege of the Second Hell on Earth incident. She was a civilian like me before, not anymore. Now it's time to ask her side of story. Plus, we're talking in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's armoury. It was now stocked with some good stuff yesterday after the siege. A real miracle if you ask me."

"Name's Gakkuri. Pleasure to meet you"

"Right, right. Let's start with a simple question. What unit did you come from and where were you stationed before coming here?"

She smiled at my question. "I'm not a soldier like you Hito, I'm more of a mercenary who came back to protect my own home. I was originally stationed somewhere in the middle of Forest of Magic to maintain observation of the location in case of an attack. I got a distress signal from a unit going through the forest, something about a whole horde of demon attacking the Scarlet Devil Mansion. One of the supply trucks happens to run on my route, so I decided that I'll provide direction toward the mansion. Poor sod got lost for hours in the forest before finding me"

We both shared a chuckle from that. "Damn Gensokyo and their ability to mess with GPS"

"More like the demon's ability to penetrate Gensokyo's barrier." Gakkuri replied, her voice deepened at the word demon. "The Barrier prevents the remaining portal from creating more outside of the barrier, but it does not stop it from sending more through the available portal."

"I already shut down one portal pad, I mean, Sanae did." I replied. "Do you think there are more of them?"

She scratched her head. "I believe there are more of them, but I know that there are not a lot of them left. Notice how desperate the attacks were? While it was much more intense, it was more of a rare occurrence this day. Back then, we have to deal with sieges for 24/7. Now, sieges like that happens only at Hakurei Headquarter or like once every week, while it was still a lot, but it was nothing like the opening years."

"How was the opening year here?" I asked her.

"I wasn't here when they first attacked. You better ask somebody else for that. But I do remember coming here during one of the sieges. It was literally Hell on Gensokyo. The sky was torn by supersonic bullets and fireballs exchanged between the attacker and defender. The ground was littered with corpses, some were weeks old, nobody have time to bury the dead. They were constantly under siege."

"Plus, the ground was always shook with footfalls of giant behemoth running around trying to kill people. I remember that I was assigned to protect the Gateway as it was one of the major portals from Outside world with Gensokyo. If that portal fall to the demon's arm…" She crossed her finger across her neck for emphasis. I noticed that there was some kind of line between her neck and torso, like a joint that separate a doll's neck from the body.

"Morale was low, and the people was scared. They want something to believe in, something to keep their mind off the war. That's why people like me and Marisa exist, to kill demons and look good doing it."

"To increase morale" I concluded. She nodded in acceptance. "Yep, to make sure that there are some very cool people out there who can kick some serious ass and still looks good. Marisa chose the rouge gunslinger from the Wild-West look while I prefer the kickass pretty pink princess thing."

"Ok hold up." I interjected. "You spoke of this person called Marisa a lot. Is she a friend of yours?"

She nodded. "Yup, a buddy of mine. She was a native here, but unlike me, she's full human."

"That's the thing I was wondering about miss Gakkuri. What are you actually? No offense."

"None taken friend." She replied with a slight giggle. "You were right to ask that question. I am not a human, nor am I a demon. I am a doll, a Living doll to be exact."

"Really?"

"No sweat sir. This is Gensokyo, anything can happen."

For some reason, that answers almost every question that will come in the future.

"Anyway, that should answer what am I. Anyway, nothing fun actually happened when I was in Gensokyo. I just guard the Human settlement, play around with the children in the area, and investigate the local area when I got some reports. It was a good time, nobody question my credibility that time. We were attacked at the border enough time for me to convince them of my capability."

"So…" She inhaled, which is a puzzle as she was not a living being above all. "I believe you want to know what happened right after we got rescued back in Newark right?" I nodded wildly. I was curious too.

"Well, it was not that special anyway." She said, scratching the back of her head. "I was just taken to a different jeep to be honest. I was scared that you might be dead; you bear the whole brunt of the explosion. That fucking imp somehow triggers a propane tank inside the hardware store. A grunt blasted the fucker with a shotgun. I was a little bit far away, so I didn't get hurt. You took the last available jeep and as I can walk, I have to hoof it though. The soldiers know what they do, so I was safe along the journey."

"That's it?"

"That's it. What? You expect some kind of escapade or something? They were doing their best to evacuate as much as they can. And as far as I remember, the jeep was filled with wounded such as you. It's a dick move to complain about walking when a dude just lost his legs right?"

We didn't say anything for a few moments. It was awkward for me. "So…thanks?"

"Yeah, sorry for not being more informative. If you want more, you better ask Alex. He is a treasure trove of information."

"I believe I saw him yesterday." I replied. "He works under the Librarian herself."

"Good. Have fun."

"Yeah. Thanks" I said. And that's concluding the interview. It was a bit short, but it was pretty good. I stashed the kits back into my waist pack and turned my attention toward the rack of pump-action shotgun in front of me. Now, I have to think of what weapon I want to use.

As in answering my problematic question, Gakkuri suddenly tapped my shoulder to grab my attention. I turned around to face her. She smiled, and then she pointed her finger at the west of our location, third table from the one behind me. A sleek black barrelled beauty sits snugly on top of the table on a tripod, just waiting for me to claim it as my prize.

We both shared a look at each other's eyes. We both laughed, her doll mouth moved along in perfect tempo as she exhaled air in an orderly fashion.

Her eyes stared deep into my own. The beady brown doll eyes stared at me lifelessly, but inside the dark iris of her fake eyes, I can see a soul.


	7. Chapter 7

A simple imp was walking along the border of its outpost, bored out of his demon mind. It huffed in annoyance at every second at every step it made; his displeasure was visible to its comrade. If anything come and aggravate the demon, its ire would be dire.

The demon outpost was a simple square iron box encircled by a long series of steel fences which was topped with a single continuous link of barbed wire. The wire itself was coated with blood, leaving little to the imagination. A single gate was present at the front; its crude iron and flesh-like construction render it fearsome to any human unlucky enough to stumble upon this loathsome outpost. The ground around and inside the post was soaked with blood. The outpost was filled to the brim with demons. Each of them snarling at the gate wanting release from their prison. Some demons would go out in group at regular interval, which is around 3 minutes after each deployment. Despite the speed of deployment, the outpost is still full of demons.

The imp cast its red angry eye on the vegetation around him. It was angry at the green, lush forest it was forced to go through. It wanted nothing but to raze the whole forest down and its inhabitant, and its desire grew stronger as it smells the sweet, sweet scent of its next victim.

Oh, how easy it would be to hunt its prey down! It would crawl in all four, sniffing the ground like a bloodhound every second to track its prey. Its smile would widen as it smells the overwhelming fear from the human seconds before it would pounce upon its victim, its sharp teeth then would puncture the human's throat, yielding the sweet, sweet blood every demon craved.

The imp's muscular body slowly crept toward the scent, its desire starts to overwhelm its thinking capability (did it have any in the first place?). The demon slowly crept toward the nearest vegetation, a simple large green bush at the edge of the forest, its lush leaves provide cover for any foolish human that dares to spy the horde.

The smell of meat was tantalizing, and the imp was certain that somebody was hiding there.

With a loud shriek, it conjured a small ball of flame on its clawed hand. With a mighty heave, the imp then chucked the flame toward the offending vegetation; its muscled arm bulged from the exertion.

A simple white rabbit jumped out from the vegetation. Before the imp could react, the little rabbit ran deeper inside the forest, its tiny animal mind screamed danger as its small body navigate the treacherous ground of the forest.

The imp stared limply at the spot, its fanged mouth wide open in surprise.

"Man, that's kinda funny"

Alex mused to himself as he observed the demon's behaviour through his rifle scope. He knew he can score a headshot from the distance he was in, but he decided against it. It was risky enough to scout the area in the first place by foot, he was much happier on his perch on top of an oak tree; its millennial age allows the explorer to hide from prying eyes through sheer height. Alex has tethered himself at one of the branches which he thought was stable enough with ropes and piton and has been keeping tab of the demonic outpost for about an hour and a half. Through his observation he saw that the demons would come out in an equivalent of a human fire squad, except the imps were packing real fire.

Sometimes, he would also witness some other variation of demons other than the usual imps and pinkies. Arachnotron, Mancubus, Pain Elemental…He nearly shit his pants when he saw a group of Cacodemons floating toward his perch, only to turn 90 degree off their course.

Alex noticed that in his hours of observation the amount of demons never abated for a single moment. Not once. Alex has counted around 200 imps has been deployed, yet the outpost is still pumping out more. There's only one option left…

There's a portal pad in there, and it might lead to the big one.

He knew that it was suicide going in balls deep despite contrary rumours. Alex is still a human, no matter what the resident of Gensokyo said, or is he? It doesn't matter, what matter is that he can't take on a whole outpost all by himself, not with only a bolt-action rifle and pistol at his side.

Says the one who literally soloed half of Hell by himself. Alex chuckled at his own muse. Even he was surprised that he was still alive at that point. Was it all the Danmaku training he has with Meiling and Patchouli that helped him to stay alive? He did spend half his life down there dodging projectile like a pro.

He can't go in there alone, but he can't risk sending off a radio signal lest they happen to have a radio tracking device. He came to a conclusion. He must get nearer, and hope he can at least have a better picture…

Hito were currently cleaning his new weapon, which was assigned to him by Captain Meiling herself. The black barrel of the MP7 submachine gun glinted underneath his gaze as he thoroughly scrubbed the tube with a rag. The said red-haired captain watches over the young private first class with a smile on her face.

Hito got the permission from both his captain and Meiling to carry new loadout. Erwin said that Hito deserved a new load out after what he did with Sanae yesterday. He decided to switch his M16 with a Remington 870 shotgun, like Sanae used. Despite having a primary weapon already, Hito wanted a gun where he can spray and pray like his favourite M16.

Well, he did sports a new bandage bandanna from the pinkie he fought in the demonic bunker yesterday. He always said that he will replace his rifle if he got the chance. This is his moment.

The MP7's ammunition cartridges were actually capable of penetrating body armour like their bigger cartridge brothers. It was as light as pistol rounds, yet it has the punch of a 5.56mm rounds. He attached a simple reflex sight to replace the iron sight.

"I knew that you would end up using a shotgun in the end."

"Yeah, yeah Sanae. Don't rub it in." Hito replied, still scrubbing the barrel of the submachine gun with a vengeance. His eyes scrutinized the minute detail of the gun to find any defects he might missed. Sanae only smiled at her friend's indignation. She then took a seat beside him at the table which he was using to clean his new SMG. She looked up and flashed Gakkuri a smile which she replied in kind. Gakkuri then took her leave by a door next to a row of assault rifles displayed in a cabinet. Sanae pulled out her new shotgun, the same model her friend currently chose. Unlike her friend's black tactical stock and pump, she is a wooden brown stock which was famous for its extensive use of the one and only Doom Marine.

She smiled as she stroked the black barrel of the shotgun. Doom Marine embodies the first ray of hope humanity needs in the darkest day. He showed them all that no matter what happens, there would be a single soul who refuses to die, who refuses to be a victim. That person means that no matter what happen, humanity won't die out. He was that person.

Not only he has fought his way from Mars, he fought his way out of Hell once and single-handedly took down the whole invasion right at its track. In the end, he sacrificed himself to ensure that the demons won't bother Earth anymore.

Sanae frowned at her own thought. Her right hand grips a single hacksaw from her friend's toolbox. The reflection of the barrel showed her thoughtful expression as she contemplated the meaning of his sacrifice. If he stays there to keep the demon in, then should that means that those demons should've stopped showing up at all? Let alone storming Gensokyo in a daily basis.

She wondered how she can stop the demons from getting in here at all. Their biggest asset is their ability to move everywhere in the large chessboard named Gensokyo without fear of reprisal or navigational error. Every portal pad she closed down closes another hole where they can stream from hell. But it won't prevent the demons from making more. That means; if she deactivates one there will potentially be three more hiding deep in their territory, unknown and unseen by her eyes.

The shotgun's long barrel screeches as she brought the sharp teeth back and forth the offending tube. Her miracle prevents her people from starvation and healed many wounded warriors, but it did nothing against the demon horde. Their ability to convert the Youkai's magic into their own hellish energy is the only reason why they resort to guns in the first place.

Hito cursed underneath his teeth. He quickly shook the submachine gun up and down. Suddenly, an offending rice grain came out of the barrel. Hito asked to nobody in particular why somebody snuck a fucking rice grain in a gun barrel. Now he has to field-strip it and cleans it up again.

Sanae quietly smiles at her friend's plight. Miracles work very strangely.

"Fuck me sideway and everywayyyyy!"

Another ball of flame dodged skilfully by the nimble explorer, only for him to caught a fist from a zombie. Grunting heavily, the young explorer smashed his rifle butt at his opponent's face, crushing it to oblivion before rolling away from a Hell Knight's charge.

It was obliviously stupid of him to get anywhere near that place, let alone without backup. He got nearer by crawling through the heavy vegetation of the forest, relying on their natural barricade to hide him.

The dangerous aura was so strong; he got a slight headache just by being so near. So he decided to retreat…only for a demon patrol to caught him standing up.

The moment he locked eye with that particular imp officially fucked him up. He dropped the creature with a shot from his silenced pistol, but the damage was done. The outpost suddenly growls louder, as if anticipating for their next meal. The gate suddenly swung wide open, spilling its content to engulf the unfortunate explorer.

Alex quickly sprinted away from his position with a horde of demons hot on his trail. His only hope is that the wood's dense plant life provides him cover from their relentless barrage. Once he got inside the wood he initiated his counter-attack.

He focused his mind to a near superhuman level, something that can only be done by a disciple of bullet hell player. Everything instantly sharpened, his vision, his smell, everything. He can smell the blood off the demon and his own knife, something he was used to back in hell. He can sense the overwhelming killing intent from the demons, the magical aura of Gensokyo horribly warped and distorted to fit the aesthetic of its invader.

Alex remembered the reason why he survived so many encounters; he never stood in one place and always employs the use of environment. Using the trees as cover, Alex let off several shot before retreating to another tree far away. Run, stop, shoot, run, rinse and repeat.

Today was not his day; he stumbled upon another demon patrol. He has no choice but to engage them head-on.

After dodging the demon's flying fist he swung his rifle like a club to another imp, knocking the fucker down on the ground. He then stomped the creature's head without second thought. He then shot a Cacodemon from the sky, stopping him from firing its projectile. He then quickly shot a Hell Knight's crotch, forcing him to kneel out of sheer pain. Quick as a lightning, Alex sprinted toward the downed Hell Knight and swung his rifle at its face, dislocating its jaw. He then shoves a hand grenade inside its maw and rolled away from a Pinkie's charge. The demon charge knocked the Hell Knight off his feet. Moments later, the grenade inside its maw detonated, spraying the immediate area with thick black blood. The same Pinky got most of his face eviscerated from the knockback of the grenade, which Alex used to his advantage. Suicidal it might be, he quickly ripped off one of the loose tooth from the demon's jaw, only for him to jam it back to its eye. He made a 180 turn and finished off the same offending Cacodemon that tries to shoot him down earlier, the large 7.92 Mauser round ripped off a chunk from its large body.

Movement is key; so he never stood in one place. One second he was shooting another Cacodemon, the next he is rolling away from another pinkie, and then he punched another imp in the face after finishing his roll. The poor imp was then unceremoniously kicked into a rampaging Pinky, whom the latter demon quickly made its displeasure known by chewing its comrade alive. He then proceeds to gun down the oncoming demons that were following him.

A hailstorm of demonic magic orbs, fire balls and homing rockets from said horde. The barrage seems to be very impossible to dodge for a normal human being, and he saw the glee in the demon's face as they continuously chucked their projectile at the nimble explorer.

But Alex is not a normal human, he's a Bullet Hell player, and what they throw at him is simply Stage 1 Lunatic Level. Grinning widely, Alex made his next move…

The young rabbit were mostly unharmed, but it was hungry.

While it was busy chewing on a piece of carrot, it relates its story to its handler, another Youkai with ironically bunny features. While the only bunny feature itself was just a bushy tail and a pair of long, drooping bunny ears the Youkai is still interchangeable between a human being. Anybody who never acquainted themselves with a rabbit Youkai would mistake them as an attractive woman in bunny costume.

Staff Sergeant Reisen U. Inaba patiently listened to the rabbit's tale; her enhanced ears allow her to understand everything the rabbit said. And from what she heard, it wasn't pretty.

Travelling through the Bamboo Forest of the Lost on a normal, pre-demon war state is dangerous enough on its own, but having a freaking demon base so close to Eintei's Mansion is worrying. The forest was notorious for its ability to mess around with a traveller's sense of direction, rendering most if not all walker to be lost in its vast expanse. Other than the mansion itself, there's next to no landmark or sign that can point the right direction right back to Human Village. The bamboo grows diagonally, driving most people sense of balance insane. No matter how good a human is in exploring, he or she will enviably loses their way.

That's why the Eintei Mansion was critical in the defence of Gensokyo. Its mind-addling ability is not considered null against the demon, giving the resident of the forest one of the biggest advantage there is. Many, if not all demon troops were trapped in this forest, just waiting for either her bunny scout to pick them off or let Mokou-san do the honour. It would be considered ironic that her strongest attack consisted of magical fire, something that the demon was strongest against.

But they're not Mokou, so the end result is still the same.

Mokou barely scouted the place anymore, her job is to stay at the gate of the forest to ensure that no demon get to the Human Village, nor allow any human troop to go in without guidance. The last arrogant one who got in ends up as a pile of bones littered across the forest, its original owner unknown and uncared for.

Judging from the bunny's report, the amount of demon pumped out from the base is incredible. Not only that, they have a very powerful aura that distorted the magic of the forest, making it even easier to get lost in. While the said magic screwed the demons big time, one of the waves it screws with is the soundwave. Alex said that the wave is their equivalent to a tapping device used to trace calls and record phone call back outside Gensokyo. To that effect, many radio or similar sound-transmitting device were heavily discouraged from use or just plainly discarded.

Reisen nodded as she formulized a plan in her head. She sent one of her fastest scout back to Eintei to warn them of imminent attack. She reckoned that even if the bunny was exaggerating, a good amount of demons prowling around is still a cause of alarm. She then ordered her platoon to prepare for combat.

Her platoon all consisted of Bunny Youkai with certain role. There are Infantry, grenadier, scout and support squad in her platoon. The infantry were armed with NAR-02 and Remington 870 shotgun. The shotgunner usually take point in every engagement as to maximize pellet spread during engagement without jeopardizing their comrade in battle. Grenadiers were armed with a belt-fed NAB-01 grenade launcher and a HKMP5 submachine gun to mitigate their short-range weakness. The support would be armed with NSAW-01 Light Machine Gun to provide suppressing fire if needed. Last but not least, the scout. They are consisted of a battle pair equipped with Remington 700 sniper rifle and they were one of the quietest members of the crew.

Reisen then raised her head, taking in her surroundings. Her scarlet eyes scanned the horizon of the forest as she straightened the tie on her uniform. She refuses to wear a flak jacket, something that was common for high-tier Youkai to do. What the use of bulletproof jacket if they would never get hit once? There's a reason why bullet-hell player was often called 'raindrop dodger'.

The bamboos surrounding her droops low toward the ground like a weeping willow, symbolising the despair of many traveller that has lost their way through the forest in the past. The cold temperature of the forest stark contrast against the shining midday sun above them. Reisen believes that many hiker saw the sun as a beacon of hope in a land of danger such as this forest. But even in this unforgiving land, there is always be a beacon of hope. Eintei is one of them.

She twirled around to face her motley crew of warriors. All of them retain their youthful and beautiful Youkai appearance, but their eyes shared the same vision of determination Reisen shared. She smiled at her crew, who were standing in rapt attention at her scrutinising. This land, while it was harsh, it was beautiful. This land is her home, and she would not let anybody or anything take it away from her. The humans outside this world have tried, but they all fell to the madness that Reisen inflicted on them.

Reisen nodded quietly to herself, this is her home, and she shall defend it to her very last breath.

"Move out!"

The mansion's shooting range was full of user, mostly fairy maid that seeks to improve their aim with their handgun. Hito observed one particular fairy that was holding an M9 Berreta which was painted bright blue, slide and all. Hito observed the fairy's aim, which is pretty good for a non-combative maid.

50/100.

She growled in frustration, and proceeds to restart the course. Hito observed the peculiar shooting range technology. Like a normal indoor range, it consisted of a series of corridors that each shooter stands behind to shoot their weapon. Downrange, a back wall with piles of sack filled with earth to absorb the stray bullet. What Hito noticed was the lack of paper target, instead of the traditional paper; a simple human-sized doll was used as a target with several target markers on them. Humorously, he notices that there was a special diagram of penis on each doll, every part netting specific points once shot. He wondered if the fairies were truly trained to aim for the dick…

Hito noticed a fair amount of demon-themed doll, pinkies and imps being a fan-favourite among the shooter in the gallery. What surprises him is one particular doll that actively walks toward the shooter with its own two legs. The shooter blasted its leg off with a well-aimed shot; it was none other than the same blonde-haired witch debutante he met yesterday.

The witch beckoned the reporter with a smile, telling him to use her cubicle to test out his new weapon. Hito promptly accepted her invitation. Hito notices a simple electrical scoreboard attached to the table of his corridor, displaying a series of number the witch just achieved. 89/100.

The witch, who was dubbed as Marisa Kirisame instructed him on how to use the billboard. He first waved his new submachine gun at the counter; a small wave of laser enveloped his gun. The screen counter on the table displayed the type of gun and its number, telling him to return it to its respective places once used. He then put his face near the scanner, allowing its laser to scan his eyeball. Surprisingly, his tag was displayed on the screen, including his previous score (which is non-existent). His question was answered when he saw the familiar wrench and hat logo of the Kappas. Hito made a mental note to give them a fuck-ton of medals once he became a general.

His first target was a pinkie; its clayed body slowly approaches the young soldier along the corridor. He was surprised by how lifelike the doll was, down to the dread Hito usually felt every time he engaged one. Fear is normal for a human being, but we have the choice of either succumbing to fear, or fighting back to our very last breath.

Hito narrowed his eyes to a slit, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger…

The demons were frustrated, their rage getting the best of them as each of questions the reason why this was happening.

They were engaging a single human, a single, weak, feeble, disgusting HUMAN! They threw everything they had against the simple human, yet the dastardly human cowardly hid behind a large maple tree, all the while killing its comrade. Many demons fell by his antique rifle, which infuriates them even more. They might be demons, evil made flesh, but many can't help but think of one nagging problem.

 _How the fuck did this human dodge our projectile?_

It was evident that it was their primary concern, their attacks becoming more frenzied and reckless as time goes by. Some demons turned on each other as their comrades were hit by friendly fire, so thick and reckless their barrage was. This gave the human more time reload his weapon and took down some of their number who was engaging him. This infuriates them more. How? How could a simple human can dodge a literal hailstorm of hell fire and homing rockets with apparent ease, every projectile rendered null as the explorer simply sidestep the offending flaming orb?

But every demon has a savage grin etched on their faces. They knew that no matter how many demons the human kill, they will always be more. The portal pad back in their bases pumped out a steady supply of demons, their red glowing screen of death and destruction spawned more hell-spawn by the minutes. It will be a matter of time before the human would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of demons.

This thought etched a cruel smile on one of the Arachnotron, which turns into an all-out laughter.

…..

My eyes were blurry, knees weak and my arms are heavy. The FOCUS spell allows me to dodge every projectile those hell spawn threw at me. My heart was pumping hard, delivering precious oxygen to my brain in order for me to better dodge the hailstorm of hell fire I was suffering.

No matter how much I kill, there will always be more. It felt like if I kill one, two more will come to replace the fallen demon. I know how fucked I am if I run now. Chances are, I'll end up being hit by a stray bullet at my back when I was running. Flying was out of the question, I was tired from the constant dodging and combat I subjected to. My stamina is great, but my magical stamina is shit.

So I did what I do best, dodge like a motherfucker. Compared to Letty's spellcard, this was easy mode. One thing I really like about Danmaku other than the fact that it felt like I was playing in fireworks is the face any person made when I dodged ridiculous amount of bullets in a match, casual or life-threatening. Their frustrated frown etched an evil smile upon my bruised visage. Even in death, a punch from a marine still hurts.

Fucking Christ, how many fuckers are there? I have wasted almost my entire rifle round and just a few shots away from fully dry, how many do I have to kill before I can relax? Or do I actually have to go berserk and tore my way through? Those demons fucker were everywhere, surrounding me in a huge fucking circle as I performed a dance of death and destruction in the middle of the makeshift arena. All I was missing was some 80s synth-pop music, or some electronic dance music Riftky likes to listen to.

A bulbous brain on a spider robot leg thing got its face (or what qualifies as a face) splattered by a well-aimed shot from my rifle, and that's it. I'm all out of ammo. My eyes furiously scanned my surrounding as I deftly dodged another fireball from a hellspawn. Shit, nobody was here, and the horde is still too thick for me to fly over. If I tried to fly, I would be gunned down immediately. I growled deeply to myself as I jumped over a three-wave blast from a Hell Knight. After this is over, I gonna train my magic stamina like hell, even if it means meditating for a whole fucking week.

Grunting fiercely, I whipped out my pistol from my holster, all the while thanking my inner paranoia and Meiling's nagging to never leave the mansion without a fully loaded pistol. If I gonna die here, I'll die with a gun in my hand so that when I'm back in Hell I'll pistol-whip any fucking demons coming to steal my soul.

"Come get some motherfucker!"

….

90/100

Not bad me.

I grinned quietly to myself as my score was displayed all over the screen on the table. My new weaponries sure are packing heat. I quietly caressed my new MP7 as I switched over to the Remington shotgun.

A particularly loud ding took my attention as the machine took note of my new weapon. I checked my shotgun which is filled to the brim with buckshot round. "I'm ready machine"

A Hell Knight appeared on my lane, which surprised me for a moment. I raised my shotgun to its face, knowing all well it was just a simple doll. The mock demon's skull was obliterated by a single shotgun blast. That's not my shot.

I turned to my side, only to see the smug smile of my old friend Sanae. She theatrically blew the muzzle of her shotgun. I smiled grimly at her, cocking my shotgun to issue a challenge. She cocked her shotgun too, accepting the duel too.

We both bend down to pick up the fallen shell from our gun simultaneously. I growled quietly. Our lanes simultaneously populated by several scores of demonic dolls, ready to receive pellets for dinner.

We loaded our shell back to our shotgun, and fired.

…..

"Reisen you beautiful woman!"

"Yeah, you hot too ma dudes!"

"Marry me after this is done girl!"

"I thought your dick belongs to Patchy!"

"Not for the moment!"

I never felt so much relief and joy from seeing the familiar rabbit-eared Youkai of the forest. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw a huge gap opened between the enemy fire thanks to the Rabbit Platoon intervention. I have to duck as not to subject myself to an accidental friendly fire, but a backup is much better than no backup at all.

I bump fist with Tewi like per-usual, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Then, Reisen opened her mouth to issue a retreat. Goddamn that woman has a lung. A series of thunk was heard from the back of the formation and I watched with glee as the battlefield was littered by high-explosives mortar round.

"Go, go, go!"


	8. Chapter 8

It's a draw.

Shotgun shells littered on the floor all around me as the ringing sound of the bell signify the end our little contest. The battle was well-fought, and we both have a huge smile on our face.

"Nice match" I commented to Sanae, perspiration painted my face. Sanae smiled too, our little shotgun competition proves to be quite fun in their own way. I took a glance toward the little screen on my table. 90/100, pretty good for a shotgun.

I look at the pockmarked walls at the far end of the range. Shotgun reign supreme against many demons foolish enough to charge straight into a hail of buckshot, but hitting anything over medium range requires extreme luck to hit anything, let alone do any damage. Despite all this, we manage to provide satisfied result over 3 miles.

"We should do this often" I replied, admiring my handiwork. Fighting real demons with guns are adrenaline-fuelled, exciting event, but it was NEVER fun. Finding joy in eviscerating enemy with gunfire is a sure-fire way of being a psychopath.

"Yeah, and maybe one day you'll end up beating my score! You two are really close to beating my own!" Marisa said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. I turned around to face her. "What's your score?" I asked her.

"94, third place out of this whole course" She replied.

I raised a single eyebrow at the gunslinger's remark. "So, who's second and first?"

"Alex claimed second place, while the first one was claimed by her." She said, pointing a finger toward the cubicle to my left. I craned around to see who the occupant is. It was no other than the maid I met yesterday, the one who found me stalking the lover's slumber.

She was holding a stainless steel M1911. 45 with suppressor attached to its muzzle. So focused was I on my little battle with Sanae, I simply doesn't even notice her appearance. I stared deeper to her waist, still noticing the slight bulge on her skirt. I finally realized that it was a hidden holster for the pistol.

I watched silently as she replaced the magazine in the pistol. The muzzle was smoking slightly, indicating her heavy use of the weapon. Her movement was so swift and fluid; I barely saw the magazine leaving her hand. It looks like she just simply clapped the grip of the gun and resumed firing.

I looked straight at the target she chose. Each of the targets she chose ends up with a bullet perfectly between the eyes. That if the target was humanoid in nature, the one such as pinkies opted to get their eyes replaced by 0.45 ACP rounds.

A small doll shaped like a Lost Soul suddenly sprung up, flying straight to the young silver maid in a straight line. Considering her performance prior to the target's appearance, it has no chance of surviving. I was right, the skull then explode into million pieces.

My eyes widened as I stole a peek at her counter. 100/100. She got full mark in the range, and she didn't even break a sweat!

The maid (Sakuya was it?) clapped the grip again, replacing the magazine in a flawless way. Smiling to herself, she slightly lifts her skirt, showing off her plump, smooth thighs adorned by a thigh holster and a knife pouch. The gun was placed back to the holster with elegance. She then looked up and smiled to me. "Enjoying what you see?"

I did not realize that I was staring at her thighs all along. "Sorry! I didn't mean to! I actually meant to…" My eyes trailed away, looking at the target practice to my right as not to meet her steely gaze with mine. "…look at the gun?"

Marisa and Sanae stifled their laughter, enjoying the awkwardness of this situation.

Sakuya then took the gun from her holster and aimed it right to my face. She then flipped the gun around, giving the gun to me grip first. I took the gun with a nonchalant look on my face; secretly I was glad that she didn't blow my face off.

The pistol was in perfect condition, as if the gun was prepped for an international weapon contest hosted by the military. The barrel and muzzle was pristine along with the rest of the weapon. Not a single scratch or smudge was found on the weapon. I found a single smudge at the weapon soon, but I realize that it belongs to MY finger, not her.

The gun has a custom black leather grip that wraps around the handle of the gun, its smooth velvety texture conform to my grip as I dry-fires it to test how does it feels like firing it. Knowing the fearsome reputation of the handgun, I believe that the maid was confident with her ability to protect the household if the need arise.

I gave the gun back to the maid (Sakuya was it?). "Nice gun. Where did you get it?"

She accepted the pistol with grace and placed the weapon back to her thigh holster. I this time did not look at her thigh. "Thank you. It was a gift from a dear friend." She said. Whoever her friend was, he or she must really have a good taste. "Your friend has good taste." I said.

"Thank you" She replied.

My mind drew up a blank. She was standing there, expecting more. What am I supposed to do? What should I told her to do? I may be a soldier, but there was some kind of an aura on her that asserts her dominance against every living thing around her. She was a servant, but not the type that you can simply order around without any form of credibility yourself.

"Sir?"

I looked at her eyes, taken off-guard momentarily. Here I am, a 29 year old private first class who has high kill count and served two months of active duty fighting demon kind was intimidated by a servant. In my defence, don't talk shit to me until you met her in real life. Damn her eyes were like hawks.

"Ah yes. I was thinking… Sakuya was it your name?" I asked, fumbling around for an answer. Was she that intimidating? She nodded once, affirming my thought. Then suddenly, I remembered something about her, and the opportunity that she presents to me.

"Miss Sakuya? Would you mind if we have a little chat at the library?"

…

"Are you sure?" Kaguya asked Alex, worry etched on her beautiful face. The stresses of war management were weighing down on her shoulder, yet her legendary beauty still shine like the legend says so. Her skin was soft and creamy like ivory, and her face was rounded and soft like dough. Her large brown eyes shone with ethereal wisdom and beauty befitting a legend. Her soft flowing jet-black hair was tied in a bun. She wore a khaki shirt and pants. She also has a holster at her side which houses a Colt Python 44. Magnum. Around her waist houses several .44 speedloader for combat.

"Positive. I believe that the outpost houses one of the experimental demonic research laboratories." Alex replied to the beautiful commander of the mansion. After escaping the wrath of the demon horde by the skin of the teeth he insists on seeing Kaguya as soon as possible. He left his hoodie at the officer's barrack, which he did once in a blue moon. That hoodie is what defines him. The reason he left his hoodie behind can be seen in his body.

Underneath his hoodie he wore a plain black shirt. His hoodie doubles as his battle dress and armour rolled into one with strategic padding sewed in the fabric. Both of his arms were a shade of angry red which shines in Kaguya's office table lamp from the ludicrous amount of burn lotion applied to it. His face fared no better than his arm. He sports a broken nose and several lacerations on his cheeks and chin. They may be shallow, but it was damn painful. Even if he manages to dodge the ludicrous amount of hellfire thrown at him the heat from each fireball was enough to cook him. Alex even wished that Cirno was here. He would hug the living shit out of that cute ice fairy.

Kaguya massaged her temple in frustration. What Alex told her was both bad news and good news. If Alex's intel was right; they found a structure that helps the demon become stronger in the battlefield. By destroying it will make things easier for the troops in Gensokyo. The name and the function seems to be a top target candidate, but at what cost? How many troops shall she have to send to capture the location? How many girls and boys she has to sentence to death to capture another outpost? And if it was that important, how much asset she must use to capture the area?

"How can you be sure that the place was a demonic research facility?" Kaguya asked, wanting to find a loophole for this. This alone would place the facility as a top target, and having it very near the mansion is worrisome to say the least. Not only that, if it was really a research facility, it means that Eintei has to deal with unknown amount of enemy forces with unknown type of demons. She felt her back becoming heavy from dark air.

Her eyes widened quickly as her mind recognized the sensation. She quickly pulled out her revolver. There's only one thing that can produce such aura.

"Man the battle station!"

….

The library was quite, save for the gentle sound of parchments rearranged by the owner of said library.

We were sitting at a beanbag chair, the same one I saw Alex and Patchy used to snuggle with. While he chair was designed for unconventional form of sitting down, she found a way how to sit on it and still preserve the elegant beauty the maid has. Her legs was folded to the side and her body was straight, a posture that I found aesthetically pleasing yet practically uncomfortable.

"You know maybe you could sit down, like relax maybe?"

She smiled knowingly at the suggestion, only to shift her position slightly. She is the Scarlet Devil Perfect Maid; everything she does must be perfect and elegant. And from what I saw, see can pull both comfortably.

Like always, I provided the headpiece for her to speak to. My recorder was ready to record more interviews, and I have a set of question I want to ask her.

The library was lit by candles only; the series of large golden chandeliers that adorned the library bathed the library with a soft gentle glow. The candles must be magical for their brightness cannot be achieved by a normal candle on a normal chandelier. Here we have another application of magic in every day's life; to provide light.

Patchouli was still at her table a few step away from us, studying on a piece of demon bone. I wondered if she ever actually slept. I heard rumours and stories that magician was originally human and they are capable of becoming a Youkai Magician just by a few powerful spells. If what my sources said was right, the woman in front of me doesn't require sleep or food to stay alive.

The first time I saw her was in the news many years ago before I became a soldier, she was part of a committee dedicated to magic research or some shit. I don't fucking remember. Then I heard her name thrown around as we were handed with new information on tackling these demon kinds. The last time I saw her is yesterday when Alex came to her to relieve himself of his nightmare.

She was beautiful, but not in the way that it became intimidating. Alex really knows how to pick them. She has a pair of deep, purple eyes that was marred by the black bruises she sports underneath her amethyst orb. The bruises came from lack of sleep if my assumption was correct, for bruises has different shade in every different cause. I too, sport those bruises time to time in my civilian years.

After making the necessary equipment check I decided to start the interview.

"Hello again. This is I, Private First Class Sairento Hito. I am now inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, so forgive us for speaking softly in this conversation. Right now I am interviewing a woman by the name of Sakuya Izayoi, she's the headmaid of this mansion. Say hello Sakuya"

"Greetings, to whoever that shall listen to this recording. I am Sakuya Izayoi, the Head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. This is an honour to take part in this interview sir" She replied with a smile, her voice soft yet loud enough for the strap-on microphone to pick up.

"Thank you for your cooperation Sakuya. Now we will start with the first question. How many books are in this library?" I asked her. She smiled slightly at me while I giggled slightly. The library is ENORMOUS. In fact, it was located underground, a deep vast room dug inside the earth to create the biggest library of all time. While the invention of computer and internet renders this form of information storage obsolete, one cannot deny its beauty and its impressive collection. It as if every book that was written ever since humanity invented writing until now was compiled here.

"That I do not know of. You should ask the librarian's assistant for that. But I do know that this book was supposed to contain every book written in this world ever since the Middle Age until now. If you were nice enough with the librarian herself, she might allow you to read some of the manuscripts that were destroyed when the crusaders burned them all back in the Middle Age." She replied. "That act angered Patchouli-sama so much that she unleashes a wave of plague all over Europe. If any country was stupid enough to try and claim this library, I don't know what she'll do to them"

"Wait, do you mean the Bubonic Plague?" I asked. She nodded slightly and spoke. "Of course the Bubonic Plague. What pestilence serves its purpose better than the Bubonic Plague? Patchouli-sama only let the pestilence spread across the villages and castles until the kings agreed to stop burning 'heretical' books and scientist. Unfortunately, she has not the magical control and foresight she has now back then, so some of the rats that contain the plague escaped her sight, igniting the plague all over again."

"This is unheard of" I told her. "If what you say was true, then it'll change the course of history critically."

"It will not change the course of history, for history is in the past, and the past cannot be changed by any means necessary. What it will change however, was your understanding of history." She replied.

"Did she cause the Great Fire of London that wiped out the plague?" I asked her. "Or was it a bittersweet accident by a careless baker?"

"A bittersweet accident" She replied. "We were surprised that the plague enhanced by Patchouli-sama still exist, let alone was ravaging the country for years. While it was considered inhumane to leave the victim to its fate, Patchouli decided to let humanity sort out their own mess. "

"Well, I won't judge what your mistress does base on the past. From what the historian said about our history, it won't be a surprise that they'll thank Patchouli-sama for this."

"Indeed they do."

"So anyway, here's another question. What happened when the demons first attacked the mansion?" I asked her, a question that proves to be pivotal for my article.

"Violence." She said. "Violence, rage, fear, excitement, pride, confusion, curiosity and many more. When the demon first came they came in hordes, like a tidal wave of scarlet Youkai that tries to invade the moon. I remember that we all have a pistol at our side, a rule enforced by Alex and mistress Remilia. The road they trod wilt and redden at every step they took."

"We encountered pinkies, imps, Hell Knight, baron of Hell and the occasional Cyberdemon. The Cyberdemon came after all the wave of demons fell by our hand. We fought them originally by Danmaku, like everybody else. We were unsettled by their aura, but their appearance is not that scary at all."

"Not scary at all?" I asked, intrigued by her answer. The first time I encounter one was a zombie, and that one scares the living shit outta me!

She nodded. "Compared to a standard male Youkais, they are just trying hard to look terrifying. It worked on the humans so far."

Huh, never expected to hear someone calls the demon as a bunch of try-hard.

"Anyway." She continued on. "What scares us was the fact that our Danmaku was doing absolutely NOTHING to them. Not only our raw power magic was ineffective, it even empowers them to keep fighting. If it wasn't for Meiling, the outcome would be much grimmer. She showed us that the most effective way of fighting them would be through cold hard steel and fist."

"Speaking of which, I heard that you said that you are all are armed with pistols. Where did you get it?"

She smiled. "We got it from the kappas in the mountain. The first thing Alex did after becoming a Scarlet Devil is to bolster the defence of this mansion in the form of physical weaponries. He said that we depend on magic so much, she said that we are doomed once somebody found a way to counter our spellcard."

I nodded in agreement. The military has this mentality too. Once we're done fighting a war, we're preparing for another one.

She smiled. "Indeed. But it wasn't our weapon of choice. He only manages to provide pistols for each of the fairies. It was quite a feat to be honest. We do have hundreds of fairies in this mansion. We were armed with a semi-automatic 0.45 calibre pistols, claiming that it hurts more than a 9mm. But thanks to our small budget, we have to switch to the cheaper 9mm rounds. It worked in the past against the occasional human attacker, but there will always be a first time for anything…"

"Anyway, we did have several artillery pieces and LMG, all courtesy of the Kappa Company. It just that it was not enough to defend the mansion effectively. The guns helped to take down the softer target, like the imps and the pinkies. But it wasn't enough. Soon they started to hit the walls."

She inhaled slowly, and then she exhaled carefully. "Back then, our walls weren't that big, just a simple 10 feet tall wall. It was enough to stop any human beings or any landlocked Youkai. Not them however, it took us all of our ammunition we have to protect the walls. We end up using our stored melee weapon like swords and spear. Yup, we still have those around."

"Bullets won't cut it, so we have to literally rip and tear them to pieces with our bare hands. It was surprisingly effective when the Youkai did it, with the fairy, not so much. In the end the fairies end up shooting while Youkai like me and Meling-san fought them in a brutal melee for a week straight."

"A whole week?" I asked her. She nodded.

"A whole week." She affirmed my question. "Meiling is a Youkai, so she has an incredible stamina and strength to take on the horde by herself. I have my own perks that kept me on fighting. They kept on attacking us in waves, we had no choice or else the mansion will fall."

"It is quite terrifying, is it not?" I asked.

She smiled. "Terrifying? Not quite. To be fair, it was one of the biggest excitements we have for the past 200 years. Meiling is a Taichi practitioner, so she was more suited for hand-to-hand combat, which is rendered useless against Danmaku. Having an enemy that she can fight with her Taichi is literally her dream come true. She was proud of her skill. Remilia too, enjoyed carving up the demonic army with her bare hands." She smiled even wider. "That was the day where we can literally dump our frustration by smashing some skulls without a care in the world. After several centuries of boring normal life, we were what you would call…itching for a fight."

That was really surprising to say the least. The demon horde nearly destroyed Earth by them TWICE; their unyielding barbarity razed town and countries in the dozens and poisoned the land with their sickly tainted aura. The remnant of humanity in the past has fought tooth and nails to survive for the next day, their ammunition dwindling and their hope erodes as the demon waves never cease to throw themselves to their death…And we got this group, who view their existence as nothing more than sport.

She smiled at me as if noticing my distress. "Now you see why we tried to negotiate peace in the last Cold War? It's not because we are afraid of your 'technological' prowess, it's because we knew that if push comes to shove we would end up shoving you all the way to the gates of hell itself. "

"If you are that strong, then what's stopping you from wiping out the demons in this region?" I asked her. "Surely it wouldn't be too hard for a Youkai like you to hunt down mere demons?"

Her eyes widened at my sentence and she laughed softly at my question. "Me? A Youkai? Forgive me, but you are quite mistaken. I may have some perks that allows me to go toe-to-toe with any Youkai in this land, but I'm strictly human still."

Still human? Yeah right…

"Anyway, you're not the first one to ask that question…" She said. "Many saw us as nothing but supernatural creatures capable of performing godlike miracles, something that is true and encouraged by my mistress. But it all boils down to our magical ability. Once somebody manages to counter our magic, we are in hot water for the rest of the fight. And that's what the demons did."

She chuckled to herself. "It was quite brilliant, I'll give them that. Not only they can absorb our magic, they can also convert it into demonic aura, allowing them to become twice stronger than the average. That way, they literally turned our strongest advantage into a glaring disadvantage. Fortunately, we're not just another pretty face on the battlefield." She said, flashing me a smile again. "If you can counter our magical projectile, congratulation. But can you withstand our raw brute strength? Or can you leave a permanent mark on any of us? We may not be able to deal out offensive magic, but our defensive magic is still sublime. Any wound they inflict can heal just by a quick small spell. Coupled with our amazing stamina, we have no problem fighting off these meddlers in the first years."

I nodded. She is right. While I never saw Sanae uses any offensive magic on us or them, she has saved my life and many others with her miracles and healing magic. If it wasn't for her, I would have a stump at my left leg from my third time fighting a Pinkie.

She shook her head. "But Alex was right; we do rely so much on magic that it was embarrassing to say the least." She smiled. "Don't worry; we have overcome our shortcoming in any form"

The memory of the dolls at the shooting range with a hole between their eyes replayed in my mind again.

"Anyway" She continued "That is what happened in the first day of their invasion. They come in, tries to kill us all. We blasted them with bullets and left the mansion to engage in an all-out brawl with the demons. It was a good thing that there is such thing as monster infighting. It would be twice as troublesome to fight them all at once. We then ran out of ammo, so the fairies has no choice but to return to the armoury and equip themselves with swords, axes, spears and many other medieval weapon. Some demons manage to get through the walls, but the fairies managed to swarm them and cut them to ribbons."

"It was the moment when the demons managed to bust open the gate that my mistress decided to join in the fun" She continued. "She took a glance at the demons and declared that no disgusting abomination can come and desecrate the mansion and still lives to tell the tale. So with her legendary weapon Gungnir, she impaled many demons with one blow, her fist and magic combust hell spawns as their magical reserves expand rapidly from magical manna overload"

"But...even the daughter of the devil would require rest. So with the power she has, on the third day of the siege she created a mist of poisonous magic all around the mansion, destroying the trees in the process." I opened my mouth to ask, but she was quicker. "Before you ask, yes we know what happen when we attack them with magic. But my mistress is strong, with the mist she made she manually combust every demons from the inside for 100 miles all around us. She was that strong. She maintained the mist for another day, just enough for us to prepare for another siege."

"I have a question" I asked her. "If she can create mists that can combust demons from the inside, then why wouldn't she spread the mist throughout the forest? Wouldn't that flush out any hidden demons and their bases inside the forest?"

She smiled at my question. "While my mistress maybe a Youkai, it doesn't mean that she has unlimited magic reserve. And plus, do you know how much manna required to combust a demon from inside? Let alone maintain a mist magically? Magical mist acts like water vapour; they will either evaporate or spread to other location. And when they spread, the magic essence of the mist starts to decrease in potency, turning it from a deadly weapon into a portable healing station for demons in the battlefield. In order to keep the mist potency, she must pump more magic inside the mist as they spread, making the mist bigger and requires more magic to maintain potency."

"And there's also with the issue of the poisonous effect of the mist" Sakuya continued with her spiel. "While normal Youkai can breathe in the mist normally, the local normal fauna cannot survive the poisonous mist if it spread. If mistress decided to cover the whole forest with poisonous scarlet mist, she'll end up creating a wasteland in the originally pristine forest. Heck, there shouldn't even be a single tree standing if the poison mist spread too far. That's why she has to keep the mist in a contained area. How? By creating a magical barrier that stops the mist from going further away. This cost an absurd amount of magical stamina from my mistress, but it do the trick."

Oh, so that's how they manage to clear the ground around the mansion.

"In the end, we manages to drive them back only for a moment. The kappas came right at the end of the week, around Sunday morning. A whole truck of new ammunition and weaponries just rolled from the west. It seems that they have noticed that this is not the time to be stingy and decided to work together to beat this new invasion together like back in the Cold War"

"Speaking of which, what is your opinion of the Cold War?" I asked her.

She frowned at me. "If only they were more respectful and humble, we might be able to work together…"

Her face is still impassive, but I felt certain guilt from her answer.

How could I not? As far as I remember, the Gensokyan (what we call them) are very nice to us. They tried their best to be an equal member of the world. They tried to be recognized as a separate entity away from Japan, and they did no harm in their demand. They helped us Outsiders when we are still recovering from the devastating effect from the First Hell on Earth incident. Hell, if it wasn't for Gensokyo's effort in trying to restore the world's ecological balance, I would never meet Sanae.

Yup, she originally came to bestow miracles in the form of food to thousands of starving refugees in Japan and many other countries. She became a soldier again when they realized that her miracles can close the portal from hell permanently.

They helped us so many times. But what did we do? We stab them in the back; we demanded more when other country was dying too. We gave so little yet demanded so much. When Gensokyo decided they had enough, we declared war on them, claiming that such small country cannot take on the strongest nation in the world. Gensokyo proves that not only she can take on the strongest nation in the world; she proves that without her, we all are still rebuilding Chicago when the second Hell on Earth incident happened.

I know how it felt like being pushed around by ignorant people while you are trying your best. We said that we are the country of the free, yet we oppress Gensokyo to the breaking point. In truth, we owed Gensokyo an apology and thanks for slapping us silly and reminding us of what we stand for.

I sighed deeply. Our presidency was much better now, but I know that some wounds would never heal.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Sakuya staring at me in the eye.

"Did something happen? Is there anything I can help?" She asked me.

That's the attitude of Gensokyo in the past. Eager to help, eager to experiment with so many wonderful technology and knowledge we offered. Yet we destroyed their trust as if it means nothing in the end.

"I'm sorry" I finally whispered out.

She stared at me funny, then she break out into a small laughter. Seeing such a stoic maid giggling like this makes my heart lighten up a bit. It also helps that she was beautiful, like every woman in Gensokyo is… Heh, I still remember the first time I met Sanae.

"What? Why are you sorry for? It is because of the bloody Civil war we have in the past?" She said, smiling. "Oh please, we are practically gods. We don't bother ourselves with such pettiness. We have fought for even worse cause than this. You have nothing to be sorry of young mortal"

"Bu-"

"No buts. Why are you sorry for actually? If I am correct, that war happened 40 years. You don't look old. Unless..." Sakuya trailed away, looking at me knowingly. "You're a Youkai?"

"What? No." I replied. Why the hell did she thought that I'm a Youkai? "That's not the case!"

"Then what is it?" She asked me.

I took a deep breath. "I became a journalist because of my father."

"Why?" She asked me.

"My father fought in that war" I replied. "Back then when I was a teenager, my father went on to fight against the Gensokyan back went America decided that Gensokyo is a threat to America's safety. My father was a soldier. When I saw the news of how terrifying the Youkai was, I am scared that my father would be fighting such terrifying creature."

She was looking at me in rapt attention, so I continued on. "When my father came home, he said that he's bringing over a goddess for dinner. He said that she was a good friend" I smiled at the memory of my father. His deep blue eyes that twinkled with energy as he excitedly spoke of his escapade with a certain goddess. He spoke of what adventure and shenanigan they have among the fairies as he was stationed over there.

"You should see my reaction back then. I literally thought that my dad actually brought back a goddess." I smiled at myself as my mind conjured up the memory of me totally speechless against the green-haired goddess of miracles. "Sanae won't stop bugging me about it once I became a soldier, but goddamn I was glad we became friends. She was a very dependable woman and a loyal comrade. She was nothing like what the media says"

"And that's why I became a journalist" I said. "Back then I was totally afraid of meeting a Youkai, believing that they ate human without second thought even though I never met one. If it wasn't for my dad, I would still be scared shitless when I met a fairy. And that's what bugs me. Why would the media lie to me like that? I knew that the war propaganda paints that everybody except us is the enemy, but how can they refuse to show that there some goddess among them, that we are hopeless against them in a fair fight? Let alone a dirty one? How can I knew which news is the real one, which stories was not?"

"So you became a journalist because you are tired of being spoon fed lies by the media?" Sakuya asked me. I nodded. "You're right Sakuya. When I became a journalist, I always wanted to write the truth, so that people will not be ignorant and scared. That's why news was created in the first place, to provide information." I chuckled to myself. "Heaven forbid that I never expected to face so much bureaucratic bullshit in journalism industry. In the end, I end up writing more lies than I wanted to. Going freelancer hardly pays anymore, its lie or be lied" I said, bitterness edged into my voice as I continued to narrate my life. "Funny huh? I became a journalist to ensure that the people can know the real truth, but I end up being a liar myself to eat. What a bitter irony…"

"And you know the best part is? Even though I have been working with Youkai for the last 6 years, I still am afraid of them! I always said that never judge a book by its cover, yet I did just that when I met you. I thought that you are hiding something, and don't get me wrong, you're beautiful as fuck…" I said.

She looked at me in the eyes, an intense look was plastered her face. I felt a little bit uncomfortable by her hawk-like gaze, only for her to smile slightly. "So you think I was intimidating?" She asked, I replied with a single nod. She sighed.

"Well, sorry for intimidating you. I did try to be as friendly-looking as possible." Sakuya said, shrugging her shoulder.

"And I'm sorry for thinking you might be a…a…" I want the word to come out, but I don't know how to describe the word itself.

"Sir?"

"A Youkai. A human-devouring, scary Youkai." There, I said it. She smiled again. "Apology accepted young Hito. Is there anymore question you want to ask me?"

"There is one actually." I said to her. "Do you know where Alex Armin is?"


	9. Chapter 9

Eintei Mansion is under attack.

I growled fiercely as I ran through the mansion's corridor, sparing no time to even glance at the passing servants and bunny soldiers as the inhabitant of the mansion prepares for a fight. The traditional wood frame and paper walls of the corridor will provide absolutely no defence in the event of a breach, but it was there ever since the mansion was created, so they just reinforced the wall with Plexiglas pane and some enchantment to make them harder than iron.

This is one of many passive use of magic that I was glad I knew of, other than the FOCUS spell. Damn that spell was badass.

The door that guards the armoury was made from metal plate, which was opened by a single bunny soldier to provide admittance to me. I nodded in thanks and ran straight toward the ammunition locker. I grabbed a 100 kar98k round for my rifle and 8 magazines for my pistol. A hundred individual rounds of 7.92mm Mauser would be heavy for normal standard, but I'm the Sniper of Gensokyo, and I'm anything but normal. I loaded my rifle in advance and my pistol too, so in total I have a 105 kar98k round including the one loaded and 9 pistol magazine including the mag loaded inside my 1911.

I then exited the armoury and ran straight outside. The courtyard was abuzz with activity, the soldier bunny in their green body armour jumped into their fox-holes and behind sandbags that littered the courtyard, getting ready for the flying demons and any demons that manage to breach the gate.

In the event of a breach, the bunnies will pepper the killing zone which is just a few steps away from the gate with heavy machine gun fire and loads of bullets. There are loads of machinegun nest arranged in a straight line. From the rooftops I saw several bunny soldiers armed with rocket-propelled grenade launcher and designated marksman rifle. Their mission is to take down any flying hostiles trying to be sneaky.

We have nothing to fear from any demons trying to crash through the walls, for we have attached a long series of blades that spins with the speed of a tengu and never cease spinning thanks to our beloved electrical magic that kept powering the generator that kept the blade spinning. Like a wheat through a combine harvester, the demons threw themselves toward the wall with reckless abandon, our bullets caused them pain and hatred to the point of blinding them with madness, therefor the walls was splattered with gore and chunks of meat from previous attackers that was too determined to get through.

On the wall however, there are several squads of machinegunners and artillery crews that make sure that no zombie with a bazooka or a hell-fire slinging demons destroys the gruesome trap. I remember the first time it was put on action. The first imp literally disappeared in a shower of gore as it in a desperate and reckless act of bravery tries to jump over the 4 feet tall spinning blades. The trap was sublime against melee attacker, but it requires more energy and resources to maintain it, and don't forget the magical resources the generator needed to keep the blade a-spinning. They maybe fairies, but even they need rest after a whole day of exerting magical energy. And let's not talk about cleaning the blade…

Thanks to their stockpile of magical potion, my health was restored fully. For the time I arrived outside the mansion's main building, the cream has worn off, showing off my tanned and healthy you skin again. My magic and my stamina have returned fully too, so I have no problem flying over one story building.

I manage to grab my hoodie back at the barrack as I left the rifle with the hoodie too. Now with my trusty hoodie on my body, a full arsenal of ammunitions and explosives, and my vigour restored fully I am more than ready to snipe some fool.

I am standing on the tiled roof of the mansion. The mansion is more of a luxurious house rather than an actual defensible fortress, but with the help of Kappas and magic, this mansion is more than safe. I looked at the blue tiles underneath me. Gee, I really hope that it doesn't collapse when I jumped on it…

I peered through the scope to see the environment. Like the Scarlet Devil Mansion, there is a circumference of a 100 miles of clear land dotted with demon bones for us to saw whatever the demon has to offer in their full glory. In the past, we found out that they can use the dense forest that encompasses our mansion to sneak into the mansion while our guard was down. It was a terrifying experience. I came back when they were in the thick of the battle, so I can say that it was fucking terrifying if you're not a Youkai.

I saw an imp, running straight at us. Imps are the backbone of the demon army, their ability to throw fireballs and tear chunks off a human body make them a formidable foe against a human being. But they are still human sized, so it was possible for a soldier to kill an imp with his bare fist, even if he or she did not belong to the BFG Division.

Then it gets worse. What follows them from behind is a type of imp I wish I never met again. The Black Imp and the White Imp. Yeah, call me racist, but they are coloured in respective dye. The black one has its skin in a shade of charcoal black, making them near-invisible during the night. They also threw a strange energy balls that HOMES toward their target. That's right, homing fireball.

Then we got the White Imps, which is the albino version of the normal imps. I hate the blacks more (Rrraaaacccciiiiiissssttttt) but this one is goddamn annoying. As they have no eyes in their ugly face, they relied on their sense of smell and hearing to detect its prey. Many times I was busted when I tried to sneak through an area because some white assholes decided to howl my position away and throw green fireballs at me. Fuck.

Knowing how hard those demons are, I ordered the soldiers around me to kill them as fast as possible before they reach the walls. They complied; their perfect marksmanship dropped the imps even before they can take another step.

Then, we got ourselves some more pinkies. The resident of Eintei usually let their spinning blades to do their work, for they are mostly soft flesh. Then suddenly, a small group of pinkies appeared from the back of the formation, protecting a hell knight with their body. Unlike our pink fleshy foe, they sport carapace armour over their head, torso and legs. The keratin armour maybe basic and there's chunks of exposed flesh the armour fails to protect, but it serves it purpose when we tried to shoot through their plates.

Great, we got armoured pinkies, some homing-fireballs slinging imps…What next? Cyber-implanted Hell knight?

Oh shit…

There is one.

My eyes blinked twice in surprise as I took on the image of the new interloper. It still has the physiology of a Baron of Hell, yet it has certain changes in bionic body parts. They possessed a large rectangular metal box at their left hand which fuses with their fleshy forearm in a painful way, like the flesh was melted to glue the metal box to the arm. The arm also sports a big cylinder that protrudes from said box, its purpose leave little to imagination. Their eyes were still the same though; the red orbs of hatred and anger toward humanity in general.

I dropped the fucker with a well-aimed shot through his left eye. While Sakuya can beat me in 6 yards pistol range nobody can fuck with me above 100 miles with a rifle. As soon as he falls, two more took his place, a regular Baron of Hell and a Hell Knight. Except this one carries a large circular metal shield that he used to protect its comrade.

"Motherfucker!" I yelled loudly. "That motherfucker carried some metal shield shit!"

A bunny soldier beside me nodded, shouldering her bazooka to her shoulder. It was a simple RPG-7 with the rocket's head coloured in dark green for high-fragmentation. She fired at the demon holding the shield; the rocket-propelled grenade flew toward the demons with remarkable speed. The demon took notice of this and raised its shield to protect him and his superior.

To our horror, the shield held.

"Motherfucker!" The rabbit beside me finally broke her silence by repeating my earlier sentiment. "Rockets didn't do shit!"

"FD coming! 12 o'clock! High!"

I let off another shot to a softer target, an unlucky Revenant who got his torso blasted from its leg with a shot to its stomach. The demon resolves was strong, so it settled on clawing toward us by its skinny long arms. Another sharpshooter beside me took care of him. I cursed again as I saw another type of demons that I wished I'll never fight again.

It is roughly the size of an imp, just a few centimetres above the top. They wore nothing of sort, opting to go buck naked. They may breed like human does as I saw some sports ridiculously large penis. Some would joke that they might be great in bed if domesticated, but after seeing what they did back in the Circle of Lust…

Ugh, the fucking memories… Anyway, they are the same shade of brown like their impish companion. So what makes them different than the average imp I killed every day? They have a pair of broad leathery wings to provide flight and carry a single black spear with jagged spearhead that will stuck inside a man's chest if struck deep enough. They also have a pair of long curled horn like a ram which they sometimes used to head-butt an enemy like a ram.

And they are coming to my direction fast!

"Fuck you!" I yelled, dropping an imp with a shot to his shoulder. I missed several shot afterward, but the closer they get, the more intense the rate of fire they have to dodge, and they're not as good as dodging as any respectable Youkai in Gensokyo. By the time they reached us, we already cut down a good chunk of them.

But they breached our defence, and our only hope is for the soldiers on the roof to stop them from opening the gates inside out. In short, I have to fuck their shit up.

The first one tries to impale me from above as he landed, but I sidestepped and shot him point blank underneath his chin. Two more landed beside me, eager for blood. The one on the left struck forward with its spear, its demonic aura intoxicating in close-quarter. I sidestepped the blow and used his momentum to force him to stab its own companion at my right, only succeeding on creating a small gash to its abdominal muscle. I smacked the first one with my rifle butt and followed up with a straight Spartan kick to his chest. I turned around quickly and parried the wounded gargoyle with my rifle. I knocked the spear aside with my rifle butt and brought it back to his temple with a quick fluid move, disorienting him. I smacked him again at his right cheek, forcing him to turn around. I kicked him between his legs, possibly breaking his nutsack. With a single blow I crushed his head with my rifle. I turned around to see my comrade put a round between the second gargoyle's eyes, only to be impaled from above by another gargoyle.

"You demonic fuck!" I yelled. The demon that impaled said soldier turned around and looked straight into my hate-filled eyes. He scoffed and with a mighty heave, threw the dying bunny soldier toward me. Pieces of flesh was ripped from the gash that the spear inflicted, its jagged edge tears off part of the bunny's chest as it flew toward me. I rolled to my right, only to realise that I rolled myself off the building's edge.

Controlling my panic, I activated my flight spell and levitated above the roof to obtain a clear shot at that asshole. The fucker was fast. He knew what I was doing, so he charged toward me. I have no choice but to retreat as the fucker flew toward me with a vengeance.

To my horror, the gargoyles were fighting against the bunny soldier's on the walls. The bunny soldiers were holding up on their own, but several unfortunate girls were thrown off the edge into the spinning blade, a victim of a trap designed to protect her. The gargoyles was grinning, sensing the desperation the bunny girls has when fighting them off with whatever they got.

I pulled out my pistol and wildly shot at my attacker behind me, buying me more time to react. The gargoyle was forced to retreat to dodge my bullets. I used the time he wasted by turning around and zeroing into his chest. He charged again, this time eating lead through his jaw and puked out the bullet by his spine, ending the dogfight.

I heard whispers, silent threat that tugged at the back of my head like the malevolent thought I kept in check for my whole life. I knew the voices very well; it was the voice of this damned sex gargoyles. The first time I fought them, they were punishing a maiden in the Circle of Lust with their dick. Yes, they essentially raped their inhabitant forever with their massive cock. I remember how their victim's stomach bulged out from the sheer girth of the penis, only to burst out in a shower of blood and guts as the victim's body was unable to keep up with the extremely violent fornication the gargoyles forced them to do. Their penis was not only ginormous, but dotted with hard carapace and smelly pus, a mockery of the object men used to subdue women and their influence on a woman's life.

They usually howled and chittered with glee as their victim begged them to stop, their smelly seed even burns their throat as they forced either the male or female victim to ingest their semen. They usually taunted their victim with lewd and dominant sexual humiliation, something that seal them a special place in Hell. And that's what they are doing right now; they were taunting the girls, saying that once it is all over, they will rape every hole they have until nothing was left. Their throbbing member and wide shark grins etched fear on the bunny soldiers, for all of them are females, and most of them are blushing virgins.

If there's one thing I can't stand, that is a fucking rapist.

A demon who was designed to torture women by raping them threatens my friends with rape? I took a deep breath and casted a spell on me, absorbing every hateful demonic element the invaders have. My eyes burned with fury and pain from sheer hatred, the demonic aura reinforced my already unyielding wrath. My heart pumped twice as hard, the veins in my arms and body popped like cords of solid rope under my skin.

One of them manages to pin down a rabbit soldier on the ground and ready to penetrate her with his penis. She cried for help, for anybody to save her. Her sisters were too busy fighting off the gargoyle's cacodemon bodyguards. The gargoyle straddling on her slapped her hard, hissing that nobody will save her this time, not even her god. With a wide grin, the gargoyle lowered his body toward the screaming maiden's body… and was tackled by an unknown force. The gargoyle was too surprised to react, the evidence was his lack of reaction as he was thrown off the wall and fell onto the spinning blades underneath, another demonic victim the cruel machine made by Kappas has taken.

The bunny looked up; her wide blue eyes stared fearfully at her saviour. Heh, they always say that I became a demon back in Hell. It doesn't matter now; my humanity will serves to hesitate me in the moment where I need perfect clarity. Quietly, I counted the amount of gargoyles I have to fight up here.

8 gargoyles, 8 cacodemon and a Pain elemental (Scratch that, a lone bunny soldier just blasted the fucker off the sky with a fucking RPG). The girls was engaging with the gargoyles in a brutal melee, fist, foot, knee, spears and knives was swung and thrown with desperate ferocity as both party struggled to gain the upper hand. Both evenly matched in a way, but a small change can tip the balance of the fight.

I grinned. That's why I created the BFG Division.

I slung my rifle to my back. When under the influence of Berserk, your bare fist deals more damage than any rifle you have at your disposal (Unless you're packing a fucking minigun). With an explosive roar, I charged forward into the fray.

Berserk is a devastating spell when used by the right fighter. Berserk gave three main effects during a fight. First, heightened sensory awareness...

The smell of blood was always prevalent to every Youkai I met, signifying their hidden bloodlust. It make sense for them to reek of blood anyway, they did eat human to stay alive… But what I smell now is nothing like the blood I used to smell on my friend's body.

Smelly, sour blood of the demon mixed together with the metallic stench of the lesser Youkai hangs in the air, mixing with the smoky flavour of gunpowder and lead. The whistling sound of bullets slinging through the sky ringed my ears as if somebody was scratching their new blackboard with a sharp iron nail. I roared louder to drown the ringing sound in my ear, it hurts.

Second, superhuman physical capability…

Unending stamina, unbreakable pain endurance and immense strength were the bane of many enemies facing off a BFG soldier. Not only their physical stamina was boosted beyond adrenaline's natural power, their muscles exert much more energy to deliver devastating blows to their foes. Any attack by their foes was rendered null against a BFG when they are in Berserk mode. Unless their whole body was torn up piece by piece, the warrior will ignore every wound he or she has and strike with the same ferocity they have before.

The first gargoyle flew toward me, eager to impale me like a shis-kebab. I sidestepped his blow and grabbed his spear by the shaft. With my other hand, I delivered a devastating left hook on the bastard's temple when he was still flying. My immense strength split open his skull in a glorious shower of blood.

And lastly, a savage lust for blood…

The shower of blood splattered all over my face, enveloping me in a warm, sticky embrace of scarlet fluid. I grinned even wider, my lips smacking on the anticipation of tasting more. One curious yet effective trait of the spell changes our taste buds to accommodate the new taste that we came to crave; Blood. On normal circumstances, blood tasted like warm liquid metal. Imagine ingesting that by several cup like my vampire boss did. What I tasted was sweet, delectable nectar dribbling from my forehead into my mouth. Oh, how bloody delicious it was…

The second one lunged forward and brought the spear into a wide arcing sweep, only for me to roll underneath the blow. A single uppercut to his chin decapitated the fucker by sheer force only. That's the effect of Berserk; your bare fist is all you need to tear open a demon's ribcage.

My senses were screaming at me, so I turned around and gave a spinning roundhouse kick to a cacodemon who was cheeky enough to sneak up behind me. The offending demon was thrown by sheer force of the kick into a watchtower right beside the large mansion's gate. The demonic gasbag let out a sound akin to a deflating balloon as it slid off the wall, leaving behind a trail of green slime in its wake.

I turned around to see a bunny Youkai being impaled by another gargoyle. The gargoyle descended from the sky to the poor soldier's head, impaling her at her chest. He stood up, holding the poor bunny Youkai aloft with his spear. With a gleeful cry, he threw the corpse at me. It would hit me if it was not for my Berserk plus FOCUS induced senses.

I sidestepped the flying corpse. The demon intended on skewering me alive as he threw his spear to my direction. I ducked underneath the flying missile and bolted straight to that son of a bitch. He anticipated this as he swung his claw at me. The blow connects, creating three ugly claw marks on my jacket. The substance woven along the seam of my jacket is stronger than Kevlar, so the damage was superficial. But that blow only serve to fuel my rage. The fucker swung with his right hand this time, but I caught it with my left hand and punched his shoulder with a right hook, ripping off the arm in the process.

I left him screaming on the ground and moved on for my next customer, another gargoyle. This one is smart; instead of facing me in a fistfight he decided to use his arcane magic to throw green fireballs to me. Being a Bullet Hell Player, I dodged his pathetic attempt for a bullet patterns by flying overhead. His face scrunched up in hatred as he conjured another ball of flames in a straight line. I almost laughed as the balls harmlessly flew beside me as I dived straight to him. He raised his arm to fire another bolt, only for me to tackle him to the ground mercilessly. Before he could react I gave a devastating double hammerfist to his head, disintegrating it into a fine pile of mush.

I heard a shriek and some hot air, so I rolled away to dodge an incoming demon ball. The said demon who spit out the ball respectfully keeps his distance high in the sky, knowing that I'll tear him apart as well. He was then shot down by one of the snipers at the mansion's rooftop.

I felt another presence in my back. I twirled around to see another gargoyle with a spear charging toward me, only to be interrupted by another bunny soldier with a shotgun. The buckshot staggered the sex demon right at the edge of the wall. The bunny doesn't even stop, with all her might she charged forward and kicked the demon bastard at his ass, kicking him off the edge. The demon manages to unfurl his wings and flew up again to mete out his wrath to his attacker, only for him to greet my palm with his face. I squeezed the bastard's head hard, letting his agonizing scream drown out the stinging in my ear. I squeezed more, and blood spurted out in gouts between my fingers. Oh, the sweet, sweet blood. I crave more, so I squeezed even harder. With a harsh tug, I ripped off the fucker's face with my hand, leaving his skinless face to scream for eternity. I left him behind to deal with other gargoyles at the end of the walkway.

At the end of the walkway there are three bunny girls swinging their rifle around like clubs to fend off the flying gargoyles, which harries them by flying above their range and poked occasionally with their spears. The girls have nowhere to run as they were backed to a watchtower's wall. From the blood-stained canopy of said watchtower I can safely assume that the sniper up there was killed off.

I grabbed one of the cruel spear they carry around, their hateful demonic aura almost palpable in said weapon. I absorbed the demonic aura from the weapon, healing the light cut from my chest. I owed Nitori my life again. If it wasn't for her new material, my hoodie might end up ripped to ribbons alongside several inches of my flesh. With a baleful cry, I threw the spear to the unsuspecting demons, catching one off-guard and impaling him at his stomach to the watchtower.

One down, two more to go…

The gargoyles shrieked even louder in their unholy tongue. The first one charged at me while his buddy decided to stay behind to throw some demonic green shit at me. At the corner of my eyes I saw that the cacodemons who was busy fighting off the ground forces focused their sight at me, releasing their barrage of electrical demon balls toward my direction. I scoffed at their pathetic attempt for Danmaku and took a step back.

The demon took this as an act of cowardice, so the gargoyle throws his spear at me. I caught the spear mid-air and turned around to give them my middle finger. Their eyes narrowed with anger. The weapon-less gargoyle ran straight to me, intent on tearing me apart with his clawed hands. But one thing that I learned in my time in Hell and world outside Gensokyo is that bullets do not discriminate.

His friend from the sky does not count the trajectory of his projectile properly, so his friend on the ground pays the price. The gargoyle howled in agony as the friendly fire burned his back. I remember being hit by one of those. If it wasn't for my enhanced endurance I might end up flat on my back a burning husk on the ground. I didn't wait for him to react as I grabbed the demon by the throat and twisted it violently. The sickening crunch of said gargoyle signifies the death of this fucking demon by my hand.

Now, for the final push…

The one on the ground rushed at me in terrifying speed, only to overshoot a considerable distance as I rolled underneath his swoop. I turned around and rushed at him as he turned around. He recovers his stance and resumed to his former plan which is charging balls to the walls.

His clawed fingers tore another gash on my right arm as we both launched our attack simultaneously. His finger left a long vertical cut from my wrist to my elbow as my fist travelled right beside his own. But I'm under the influence of Berserk, so such trivial pain is ignored. Instead, my fist connects to his chest knocking the wind out of him and pushes him a few step backward. Still reeling from the blow, he tries to levitate himself with his wing. The blow might have ruptured his lungs or sternum as he coughed up thick black blood from his mouth. Before he can get far, I grabbed him by his ankle and brought his body back to the floor with a hard slam. I then proceed to slam him back and forth on the ground to soften him up. With a final slam (I slammed him to the floor 10 times) I turned around and threw it at the only surviving cacodemon; the corpse deformed the oversized meat balloon and threw said cacodemon to the roof of Eintei mansion. Two soldiers on the roof saw the incoming projectile and successfully rolled away.

My Berserk-addled mind was confused by the lack of demons to kill. Was there several Cacodemons before? If I was sane back then, I might notice that their corpse was on the ground, oozing blood like a water fountain from their immeasurable amount of bullet holes.

After wiping out the gargoyles on the wall I finally noticed the lack of metal humming that I heard before the fight. My mind may have been clouded by rage, but it can still notice danger when faced with one. We just ignore them entirely unless we can't deal it with our fist.

I peered over the edge of the wall only to see rows of blades standing in rapt attention, their shiny blade glistens with blood on the hot afternoon sun. I should not see the blades stand still. It never stops spinning, for once the blade stopped spinning, demons can break through the walls.

I saw the culprit, a large circular shield was lodged at the blade's axle, disrupting the mechanical gears that connect the whole system of spinning blades to spin at the same time and continuously spin even if nobody was there to maintain it. The generator acts both as a dynamo and a battery for the blades, charging more energy for the battery to spin as well as making more for them to continue spinning. Sometimes the energy wasn't enough, so some fairy or Youkai shall tend for the generator by injecting some electric shock on their system.

Further down the road, I found a corpse of the same Hell Knight with the shield. His guts was torn across the floor, but his sacrifice was no in vain as his massive bulk was lodged at the axles of one of the spinning blade's segment. I saw several squads of black and white imps standing behind providing supressing fire as their heavier pinkie comrades bloodies their faces to try and rip off the blade with their teeth. While it can be jammed by outside force, the Kappa make sure that nothing can break a Kappa's invention except for another Kappa invention designed to break that invention.

Reisen and her squad of Bunny Youkai were at the blades, using their standard issue combat knife to cut the long bloody rope from the demon's spilled gut. Tewi and two other Bunny Youkai armed with NSAW-01 blasted any fucker coming too near their allies. Along the wall's fortification Bunny soldiers armed with light machine guns and assault rifles peppered the oncoming demons with hot lead with varied success thanks to the latter part focusing their full attention on the blades.

I felt a hot rush of pride as I saw every smoking barrel the soldier's wielded. They may have the appearance of a soft, cute woman, but they are dependable and skilled soldiers ready to fight to their last breath without second thought. I maybe the Sniper of Gensokyo, but their skills and assistance will help us claim victory.

In war, nobody fights alone.

Grinning like a madman, I jumped from the wall and flew straight to a group of imps, rage in my heart and a just cause in my mind. I am Alex Armin, I am a proud explorer of the Scarlet Devil, I am the creator of the Scarlet Devil BFG Division and I am a Hell Walker, and they shall feel my wrath!


	10. Chapter 10

Well, that's one wrapped up.

Sakuya has excused herself off, saying that her mistress calls her. Further inquiry only leads to her tapping her temple with her index finger knowingly before walking away. Not taking it face value, I decided to interview Patchouli Knowledge next.

Tired, that's my first impression of the eminent magician in front of me. Her eyes were marred by the heavy sagging bag underneath her eyeballs. Her purple eyes stared at me in slight curiosity before losing its spark, becoming almost lifeless at some point. Her body leans forward as if trying to stay upward as she turned around to face me. She has not leaved the table yet.

"You want an interview?"

Her blunt question shook me out of my stupor. I nodded vigorously before handing her the familiar earpiece used for all of my interviews. She attached it to her right ear and clipped the mic on her lapel of her pyjama (She works in her pyjama?). With a deep sigh she beckoned me to begin the questioning.

"As because my client here seems to be very busy at the moment, I'll skip right to the question. All right Professor Patchouli, what is your role in this conflict and in this mansion?"

She sighed at the question. "My role in the conflict is the same as my role in this mansion; a researcher" She placed her left hand on her table, which is covered with hastily-written notes and some strange specimens unknown to me. "My job right now is to find the truth regarding their biological and emotional structure. Only by knowing those then you can actually defeat your enemy"

"What have you learned during your research? Is there any urban myth that you want to dispel?" I asked her.

"I learned a lot, but you already know this through my thesis I wrote for you. I planned to update those later on, but the sudden influx of reports that I'm receiving now prevents me from my plan. Do you know how many reports were given to me at the hour?" I shook my head at the question. She then pointed at her table again and waved her hand. A slight purple glow envelope a small scroll on the table beside a skull stand. The scroll then turns into a long, high stack of papers. "300 reports coming in, and still counting. Mind you, this was even with the filter system I implemented upon my subordinates. So many data, so many information, so little time!"

Patchouli beckoned toward the stack of paperwork behind her. Now I know why she looks tired all the time. "Miss Patchouli, do you not have any co-workers handling extra paperwork and report as such?" the question is legit considering the high stack of paperwork she has behind her.

"Of course I have. I'll go crazy without it" She replied. "This paperwork was simply evidence and reports needed to research on some objectives I'm working right now, which is the same as always: finding a way to end this war as best as possible." She then picked something up from her table. It was small rock. "Take a guess" She said.

"A piece of rock?" I replied, which was confirmed wrong by a quick shake of her head.

"This is a piece of organic armour found on a dead Pinkie that attacked the mansion earlier on" She said, handling the specimen with the greatest care a professor can have. "Most demon corpses evaporate after some time, but if we're lucky we can have bits and pieces of them that did not disappear out of thin air. Bones tend to stick around longer though, hence why we all used them as makeshift barricade."

"That is true. I was surprised on how easy it was for a demon to get impaled by one when they were charging at us." I said, agreeing with her.

"It was easy when they were blinded by hate and rage. Their hatred was self-destructive, but thanks to Alex we found a way to weaponize their hatred, hence the creation of the BFG Division."

"That is fascinating indeed. Can you tell me what does the BFG stands for?" I asked her.

She nodded before answering. "BFG is an acronym. It stands for Berserk Fighter Group, They are a dedicated division consisted of soldiers who employ the usage of the Berserk spell during combat. They are faster, stronger, and more vicious than anything the demons have to offer. They are capable of taking on a whole platoon of demons all by themselves with their bare hands. In short, they are our trump card."

"Oh. Does it all come from the spell?" I asked her.

"Yes. The spell turns a sheep into a lion, a vegetarian to a cannibal. It grants you super strength, super pain endurance and a craving for blood. It wasn't a common sight to see a BFG soldier munching on an imp's corpse after a successful battle. That craving for blood compels them to adopt brutal hand-to-hand tactics that involves ripping and breaking limbs for maximum blood spilling."

"What happen?" I asked her.

She grimaced at the question. "What happen? They became even worse than a monster. No hesitation, no doubt, no mercy. Friendly fire was common in an enclosed area, but due to their heightened pain endurance it was shrugged off easily. In their bloodlust it was easy for a civilian or their own to get killed by their hands. A squadron of a BFG soldiers are your equivalent of a battle tank. We never allow anybody to go Berserk unless they were sure that there are no civilians or friendlies was in the vicinity."

"So the spells grants them fighting power, but takes away their humanity?"

She nodded. "That's why the BFG's motto is "So you don't have to"'. By casting the spell, they essentially threw away their humanity and their personality for a monster's mind-set. In order to destroy the demons, we need our own army of demons to take care of them. Teaching every human might be a good idea at this time, but if everybody became demons, then what is left of humanity, other than an army of demons no different than the one we're fighting for? Hence the reason why the BFG Division was created. In short, they became demons so you don't have to"

I nodded at her answer. She was right. What makes us human different is our empathy, our capability to reason and to think of the people around us and ourselves. We humans may have been the only mammals in the world that killed each other regularly, but we still have basic empathy and kindness that many animals do not enjoy. We are civilized, for we care for each of our own. Kindness, loyalty, determination, all that virtue can be found in the heart of humanity and can be sparked by a single act of kindness or bravery. If we threw our humanity away for savagery, then we are nothing but a bunch of savage fit for nothing but the fires of hell.

It was like the soldiers we have. Nobody wants to kill each other; nobody wants to travel 300 clicks away from home just to shoot down another boy from some obscure Middle East village. But we knew that sooner or later, the peace that we maintain so long will shatter, and soon we have to resort to violence again. The army was there to ensure that the general populace was safe; they are there to protect your life and liberty. They and I become the killing machine civilized people abhors so that our loved ones can sleep in peace knowing that there are people out there who was willing to eat guts and ask for seconds just for them.

I smiled to myself. We are soldiers, and every boots that hit the ground is another good man or woman is another wall between the free people of the world and the snarling demons of hell. We only hope that in the end, our sacrifice may not be in vain. Semper fi, motherfucker.

"They're practically soldiers, like me." I replied.

She nodded at the answer. "Of course they are soldiers like you, you think me and him would allow civvies to join the task force?"

I chuckled at the answer: "Of course professor. On to the next topic, can you tell me how can a human be a BFG Soldier?

Patchouli frowned at my question before answering. "To say no human can do it would be an insult to any human soldier in the group, no matter how small the number was. To say a marine can do it would be a tad overestimation. Berserk spells doesn't come cheap."

"Please elaborate" I asked her. She smiled.

"In order to understand why it was almost impossible for a human to wield it, one must know what the spells does to a human body" Patchouli said. Then with a flick of her finger, a waft of smokes appeared from her finger and took shape into a diagram of a human being.

"Whoa" I said simply. No matter how many times I saw magic in my life I never get used to it, nor get tired of it.

"What you looking at now is a biological structure of a human being. No magic, no metal implants nor any chemical or harmful disease tampering said structure."

"The human body was quite fascinating. They were very easy to modify to suit one's need. You can increase your survival chance by increasing your muscle mass and maintaining a healthy supply of nutrients to stay healthy, or you can be destructive, increasing your body mass to an unhealthy level and saturates your whole body with harmful chemicals. You can even modify individual body parts to do what you want!"

She demonstrated the lecture by manipulating the diagram of the human body. The mist changes shape to illustrate the young professor's point; one second it was a simple human being, the next is a huge buff bodybuilder with a big heart pumping blood throughout the body. The shape change again to become another human being, except the human was obese with the heart pumping dangerously fast to keep up with the bulk. Then it changes it a scrawny looking man with no visible muscle or fat at all, but the heart pumps slow and steady, the heart of an athlete.

"Now watch what the Berserk spell does to a human body"

The human diagram then zoomed straight toward the head, showing the diagram of the inside of a skull. First, I saw the cerebrum spiked in red and yellow as the spell took over. It was a no-brainer to say it was heat. Then, the pituitary gland starts to release dark yellow substance through the anterior and posterior and straight toward the heart. The amount of the yellow substance going through the vein was incredible.

"The first thing the spell did was to force the master gland, which is the pituitary gland to produce adrenaline indefinitely until the spells wears off. Which means as long as the spells goes on, adrenaline would still be produced and distributed thorough the body, no matter how much the body already have."

The heart starts to beat faster, unnaturally so. The heart contracts and expands much faster than normal, thus was the effect of adrenaline. The lung also contracts and expands at a higher rate, increasing the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. I saw the muscles in the body starts to contract painfully, as if waiting for a bullet to dodge or a bomb to catch.

Soon, I saw the yellow liquid of adrenaline starts to saturate the whole bloodstream. Slowly, but surely.

"Notice the speed of the liquid in the body? That's what berserk did to your body, and that's not all. Notice the strange aura coming from the liquid?"

Yes patchouli, I saw the blood. I can see the hot, oxygenated blood races through the blood circulation across the human body as they were frantically pumped by the enhanced heart. Then, I saw something else. Peering deeper, my fear was founded well.

"It's hot, unnaturally so" I replied.

She nodded. "That's because energy generates heat, and the energy generated from the speed of this life-fluid generates enough heat to in theory cook an egg"

"You can cook an egg on a guy?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No, that's why I said in theory, the evidence on paper said it was possible but it was never tested. But people who survived the side-effect always reports that they felt like they were cooked from inside."

"Anyway" She said, continuing with the lecture. "This is simply what Berserk did on a human body, it just push the adrenaline capacity past its human limit, allowing them to use more energy than a simple adrenaline junkie to perform supernatural feat. But let's check out the head."

The body diagram then zooms back toward the brain. She also conjured some sort of a CRT scan at the side, showing the topside of the brain. A kaleidoscopic series of colours coalesces with each other inside the border of a human skull. Red and yellow was the most common.

"The best part about the head is that the spell actually manages to rearrange the mental message in the cerebrum albeit for a small amount of time, allowing them the particular desire for blood. As you already know, cerebrums were one of the most highly developed parts of the brain the humans ever have. It practically controls almost everything humans ever have; emotion, movement, personality, memory, the whole lot! That's why this thing was protected by a very strong piece of armour named skull, because if you tweak it a little…"

She touched the brain diagram, instantly changing the colours of the brainwaves the brain was sending up until now. "You can change anything about this man. Get his brain, and you get everything. You can change a bloodthirsty man into a peace-loving hippie, or you can change a coward into a lion! So many possibilities!"

She touched the diagram again, returning the colour back to its original scarlet.

"That is another thing that makes any soldier of the BFG Division terrifying" She said, beckoning toward the magical diagram. "This spells tweak the brain a little, a little tweak in the cerebrum, a rearranged synapse at the cerebellum, a tiny changes in the cerebral cortex, and you got yourself a soldier who ignores every form of pain, feels no fear, angry all the time, can hear a pin drop from 20 miles away and have a craving for blood!"

Her face still maintains the look of professionalism, but her passion cannot be unseen as she energetically explained every point in her lecture. Her lips struggles not go into a full-blown grin at every second and her eyes seems to be livelier despite the deep bruises underneath her eyes.

"So you are saying that by affecting the brain, the spell affects the whole body too?" I asked.

She simply shrugs her shoulder. "I guess so."

I nodded quietly. "Say, what's the side-effect?"

She grimaced at my question. "Many, some were so deadly that we have no choice but to outright deny some humans to join our rank."

The human diagram then undergoes a drastic change, this time the whole body was in a state of red. Some parts were redder than other, like the triceps or hamstring, but some were milder.

"When you have too much adrenaline in your body, you'll experience a condition called adrenaline overdose. Look at the blood flow"

The diagram of the human body shifted, turning the flesh invisible to show the network of blood vessels in the body. The speed of the blood pumping so fast actually makes the amount of blood being pumped _less_ than it was supposed to! The blood flow, despite the soaring heartbeat the blood flow was surprisingly low, depriving many organs from having oxygen-rich blood supply. I saw the brain area starts to go blue, which I assume was the sign of oxygen deprivation.

"The heart pumps so fast, that very little blood was squeezed out, which means less bloods reaches less organs, like the brain. If the brain was deprived of their oxygen supply for at least 6 minutes then you became brain dead." Patchouli said, referring toward the magical diagram of the brain.

"And this before even any fighting started. Not only you have to deal with the fact that you might end up being cooked from your own body heat, but you got to deal with the enemy that will attack you. A single imp has the strength to rip open a human chest with their bare hands. Do you notice how ripped the demon was? Even if the strongest bodybuilder can knock out a demon with a punch, a Hell Knight can pick up a small car and throw them!"

I made mental note to introduce her to Heavy later on.

"Anyway" she continued "In order for the soldier to match their strength, let alone top it their muscles must contract and retract under the most extreme stress in order to exert enough strength to match in the first place. That alone creates a problem. Muscles that were put under stress would tear, that's what we all know and we used them to build muscles. But what if the muscles were ripped beyond measure?"

The human diagram then moved, this time to illustrates an action. The figure shows the individual trying to pull something apart with its two hands, like trying to rip a cloth to half. I saw the muscles contract with unbearable force due to the magic-infused adrenaline coursing through its body. Soon, I saw the muscle fibre starts to tear, small series of tear wounds starts to appear throughout the triceps and bicep muscle as the figure kept pulling. The tear becomes even bigger as the body stubbornly tries to rip something bigger than it can chew.

By the time the figure succeeded in his endeavour, the muscle was a mangled mess.

"That's what happens. And as because our dear friend here is too blinded by rage and adrenaline, he doesn't feel a thing. The muscles still usable though, but to what extent?" She said, pointing toward the magical diagram's muscle. Zooming in, it wasn't too mangled; just a few big tear with some smaller one in-between. And soon, from said tears I saw pools of blood forming underneath the skin and pooling between the tear areas of the muscle; a tell-tale sign of internal bleeding.

"Muscle tears, internal bleeding, hypoxia…those are the primary concern you have afterward. Let's not forget the side-effects from adrenaline overload! Blurry visions, headache, fainting, what else? Maybe coma for good measure?"

She then dispels the figure, only to recreate said figure again with her other hand. The figure this time wears the same BFG Division armour I saw earlier on.

"This is why we created the armour, the Standard Berserker Armour or SBA. We have been improving our model ever since Mark I. Now we have SBA Mark II."

"What's the use of the armour?" I asked her.

"To alleviate the side-effect of the spells to make it bearable for both humankind and Youkai to use. Youkai such as Oni has stronger hearts, lungs and muscles which allow them to withstand the side-effect of Berserk with little effect; it's the human that we have to worry about. Let's not forget, one of the primary reasons why a BFG soldier dies in the battlefield was due to blood loss."

She conjures another hologram of a human, this time he is wearing a marine uniform. "While their body strength and pain endurance was incredible, but they're not walking tanks. They're still having the toughness of a human being; which means their skins can be torn apart by demons as well. Most of the time the clothing they wore means nothing against onslaught of sharp claws that gouges out chunks of their flesh."

Bleeding wounds starts to appear on the marine's body, fountain of blood suddenly appears from a red smile from his throat. I knew that no matter how pissed that guy is nothing can survive that.

"That's why we created the armour, to protect the body from sharp instrument and some blunt force trauma. They were impervious to blunt-force trauma, but the armour prevents them from being cut into ribbons."

The model of the BFG soldier took place of the dead marine, displaying the armour the warrior wore. They wore a simple black skin-tight suit that covers the whole body. They wore a peculiar helmet that resembles a cross between a gas mask and a bike helmet. The circular cylinder of the filter was armoured well. There was also a single snorkel that runs from the filter toward the back of the helmet which connects to two small battery-like cylinders at the back.

The helmet was the only thing that was modern. The rest below said helmet was a full metal knight armour coloured in red and black. A single empty nametag was placed at the right side of the pectoral armour. Behind the breastplate was a pair of cylinder attached like an oxygen tank except twice as smaller.

"We took inspiration from Gothic medieval iron armour. They were virtually invulnerable against sharp objects, a major danger for the BFG warrior on the battlefield. We decided that the design was good; all we need to do is to optimize it for the BFG to use them. The tanks contained chemical mixture that can relieve the spell damage. We need to spray the potion as fast as possible in order for any human fighter to stay alive after each spell. It worked very well, that's why we have any human fighter in the first place."

The armour disappeared in a waft of smoke only to reveal a floating logo; two crossed clenched fists encased in a kite shield with bat wings sprouted from left and a wing made out of crystal at the right and a pair of horns at the top. Patchouli smiled at the logo. "That's the logo of the Scarlet Devil Royal Guardian. They were the front line of defence for the mansion."

Another logo appeared, it was a skull with a pair of blood dripping from a set of fang. Patchouli smiled at the logo. "That is the BFG Division logo. Quite simplistic, but you get the idea."

The logo disappeared, leaving behind a pretty professor behind. "And that's the story of the BFG Division. A group of our own demons to kill other demons. They are our trump card, the berserk bloodthirsty killing machine designed to turn the tide of war in our favour in any situation."

"So, any more questions? I got work to do"

I nodded. "I saw some soldiers wearing the old green armour back in the attack. Are you still using them when the new one was already created?"

Patchouli nodded. "It's all about logistic dear, we don't have enough resources to mass-produce the armour with almost every factory in this land working on an overdrive. The old one was still pretty good, so we gonna use them until our new shipment arrive" She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple in a small sign of distress. "If, they manage to arrive at all. Our resources were being squeezed so dry; even I doubt that magic can restore them back to their pristine shape."

"Did you not have an alliance with Japan and America?" I asked her. "I mean, that's why we marines were here right?"

Patchouli nodded. "Yes we did. That alliance happened after the Cold War of Youkai and Human. We helped each other out before this damned war started again. But it was the alliance that cost us our resources. You all say that we can replace our resources again. The problem is, we can't."

"Why?"

Patchouli sighed. "The only reason the forest can regenerate faster than anybody else because the forest was inhabitant by fairies which act as the local fauna. Their presence passively and actively influences the forest to grow faster and rinse any poison from the forest if one appears, that's why the villagers can simply grab a drink from any streams in a forest or jungle, and the fairy's presence already purified the place."

"But why do you all kill them in your competition?" I asked, I do remember stories from Sanae about her adventure back in Gensokyo.

Patchouli sighed again. "Fairies aren't sentient that's why. They are like the afterimage of nature's magical essence. That's why most fairies attacked us and you the first time you entered here; it was simply the forest's means of defence against local threats. " Patchouli replied. "Never mind them, the environment always made those in a bundle every day."

"But what about the fairies that has consciousness?" I asked her. "After all, not every maid I saw here is a Youkai or a human."

She smiled. "Sharp eyes. We do use fairies despite their apparent lack of awareness. But as they were a being of magic all we need to do is to add more magic in their system to make them responsive to our order. That's why we told you people to never ask the fairy maid for anything literally, they will fulfil your request to the tee."

"Literally?"

Shhe nodded. "Literally, to the tee. Hell back at the early years of using fairies as maid we have to word our command to ensure that they all don't end up kicking the janitor's bucker over and over again." She stared straight into my eyes, a calm seriousness that somehow intimidates a hardened veteran such as me. "And yes, we do have cases of them performing sexual act over a command. It took us a whole week to reprogram their mind to ensure that they forget the incident and make sure that they would not do it again."

Fairies; the only creature who took the term Go Fuck Yourself literally.

"So that's why Meiling told us not to mess with the maids…"

She nodded. "Fortunately, we have improved the maids around us. Now they act more like a proper maid now. And yes they can fight if the need arise"

"I'm a little bit curious about the maids though" I replied. "Do you add their skills via magic or something?"

She shook her head. "If we can give combat skills via magic we would have changed the whole Human Villages as an army of mean killing machine. Skills cannot be granted at all, it can only be learned by individuals. The only thing we gave the fairies are consciousness so that they can understand rights from wrongs. Then we train them to be maids and helpers. And yes you can bring one to combat if you want to, but it's not recommended."

"Why so?" I asked.

"Because maids only specialise in household tasks and guest comfort, not combat. They only have basic hand-to-hand combat training as well as basic firearm training. And yes they all carries gun hidden in their body, but a pistol only makes a small difference in a battlefield."

That was slightly untrue in my opinion. "A gun is a gun, no matter what kind or calibre is it. If it can kill, it can make a difference"

She smiled at my word. "You spoke the exact word my close friend used to say."

"So they are just helpers?"

She nodded. "Exactly, a maid is simply a helper and nothing more. They can help you with your task, but you must finish your personal task yourselves."

"Indeed. Thanks professor Patchouli for your time." Said I to her.

"Not a problem. Now if you would excuse me…" She said as she handed back my microphone. "I have work to do"


	11. Chapter 11

The last demon fell, chunks of its throat missing. The white imp gurgled in a pathetic attempt for a growl, only to choke out gouts of blood from its maw. Moments later, gravity does its work and forces the imp to take a final nap. That was the last of them, better dispel the spell…

I then extracted my wallet. In the wallet was a picture of Patchouli Knowledge smiling toward the camera. There was also a tiny piece of gauze fixed beside the picture. I sniffed the gauze; the familiar smell of lavender permeates through my nostril, filling my head with happy memories.

The hatred and rage I felt slowly ebbs away, and that's when the pain starts to hit.

As a Berserker, I was used to the pain of Berserk spell, so I did not lay on the ground delirious and pissing my pants off. Feeling sick, I complied by bending over and vomit everything inside my stomach. It was important for me to do it as I highly may have ingested demon blood and meat inside me and they were pretty poisonous against human. To an outsider it would seems that I have contracted a deadly disease as buckets of blood left my mouth and hits the ground alongside chunks of chewed flesh. It seems that I may have coughed up parts of my own gut…

Feeling a little bit better, I propped myself with my bloody rifle. I felt light-headed and dizzy, but at least I'm not puking up my guts anymore. Sighing to myself, I extracted my canteen from my pack and took a sip from it. The canteen was a gift from a Kappa engineer at the research institution, and goddamn this thing was heavy-duty. I remember how I used one to batter a zombie to shit with this baby in hand.

Clutching my stomach, I scanned the area for situational assessment. So far, we been hit pretty hard, parts of the east wall was knocked down as some stray rockets manages to concentrate their effort on a single point. I saw several bricks magically levitated toward the wall in repair effort. The razor traps was still, a worrisome sight if not for a small crew of cleaners untangling several guts that got caught in its axle.

I stretched my arms, feeling the magic inside my body starts to heal the damage I did on myself. The magic potion starts to kick in, and I groaned as my body starts to rearrange the bone inside my body and patch up any wounds I have automatically.

Suddenly, the ground shook underneath me, nearly throwing me toward my own puddle of vomit. A loud roar was heard from my south, which is where the demons were spawning earlier on.

I took a big gulp from my canteen; forcing my inside to go on a healing overdrive as the healing potion does it work. I turned around, feeling a lil bit sick but otherwise healing well. My muscles have stopped screaming at me and the world isn't spinning out of control like before.

I checked my remaining ammunition; 2 grenades, 43 Mauser rounds and 3 full mags for my pistol. Guess I used them rounds while Berserk. Fuck.

The footfalls became louder and more forceful by the seconds, and so is my healing progress. The demon sure really likes taking his time…

Another footfall, I wiped the gunk off my rifle…

Another footfall, I shouldered my rifle…

Another footfall, I stared down at the massive Spider Mastermind that appears from the forest.

The Spider Mastermind was huge, around 18 metres tall with 4 massive cybernetic legs attached to a single platform. The platform houses a giant brain demon that possesses a pair of deep blue eyes and sharp teeth. Wires lined the flabs of the brain which runs down the brain and connected to the machine below him. The machine the demon control has one powerful minigun aiming at me, its triple barrel starts to spin menacingly at me.

The demon smirked and spoke his voice full of arrogance and malice. A challenge that is what he proposes; an ancient challenge between mortal and demons where blood was the intent and blood was the prize. The challenge contains only a single rule that never changes ever since the dawn of creation: " _nimrA xelA, em llik tsum uoy retpahc eht hsinif ot!_ "

I stood up, a David against massive Goliath. I cracked a smile, the deranged grin that was a trademark for Alex motherfucking Armin. Then come my reply, three words that was the answer of every mortal that faces their enemy in combat, the reply of our own language in defiance of the demonic tongue:

" _Go fuck yourself!_ "


	12. Chapter 12

Kaguya walked across the courtyard of her base, the moonlight bathed her slender form as she contemplated upon her next move. Her long trench coat covers her slender figure which has bewitched many humans millennial ago. Hidden underneath those coats however would be a pair of 0.44 magnum tucked neatly at her waist.

She stared into the moon, nostalgia and sadness reigned in her mind before she shuts it all down for the future. Feeling sorry for herself won't do any good. Her home now is Gensokyo, and her soldiers are here. She has a war to win in here; she cannot bother herself with some moon kingdom from her past.

She thought about her role in the war, her role in the base. Funny, considering her past back at the moon, she felt more power and responsibility here than back then where her only job was to see if the suitors carried the right wedding gifts. Now, she was the commander of an army dedicated to protect the forest of Eintei. Eintei Army Corps makes sure the forest was clear and helps humans to survive in there. Her decision and words influence the path of the army. One wrong word and a whole battalion would be lost. A miscalculation can direct an artillery shells right at her own platoon. She thought about the evening defence. So many things can go wrong, and it does. But they made it through. Now she has to perform a counterattack.

She stiffened as a strange aura tickled at her neck. Beside from the occasional night guards, nobody was at courtyard, the usual busy field where bunny Youkais hopped to and fro for their role in the mansion. Her left hand went into her robe to hold her personal hand cannon. The aura was human, but blurred with the stench of brimstone, fire and rage.

"Out for a night stroll?"

Alex walked toward the beautiful princess. His rifle was slung at his back and his handgun was at his side. Kaguya secretly wonders how many human he has killed with said weapons. He never tells her how he learned how to make guns, let alone use one. He took a swig from a glass bottle in his hand which contains a glowing blue liquid. If it wasn't for her instinct she would've not notice him. His usual dark uniform makes him looks like a black phantom that appears at a graveyard.

"Can't sleep" Alex replied.

Kaguya stared at the explorer's heavy lidded eyes, the haggard look on his face as he struggles to stay awake. "Alex, you need to sleep"

Alex smiled at the princess. He then drank deep from the elixir. He wiped his lips clean and attaches the glass bottle at his front pocket. Kaguya frowned at the explorer. "Alex, you need to sleep. Health potion can't heal everything. Especially stamina"

"Yeah, yeah." Alex said absentmindedly. "Some wounds could escape my notice ya know? Gotta be fully healed for the next fight"

"For that to work you need to sleep. You are not some normal soldiers who can get healed with a single potion and a good night sleep, you're a damned Berserker. You're basically tearing yourself apart every day, and you're doing it right now. You need rest"

Alex rolled his eyeballs at Kaguya's word. "You think I don't know that? I'm the guy who brought the Berserker Fighter Group in Gensokyo!"

"Then you should know the danger of having improper rest as a Berserker" Kaguya replied sternly. "You have been exerting yourself way too much today. If this goes on you'll end up doing some irreparable damage on your body"

"I knew that" Alex replied, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the stern commander.

"Then why are you not at your quarter?"

Alex sighed quietly and tapped his head. "They come when I'm asleep"

Kaguya's expression softens. She sighed and put her hand in her pockets. "I still have some pills you can take-"

Alex shook his head. "No, I don't want that shit. The last thing I need is to get addicted again"

Kaguya shrugged her shoulder in defeat. "Fine, whatever floats your boat. It worked for me though"

"Then why are you not asleep?" Alex asked. "It's like fucking midnight here mate"

"Just taking a stroll to clear my mind that's what" Kaguya replied. "I like the night. It was cool and quite. Peaceful, if you wanted it to be simple."

Alex nodded and pointed his finger at the moon. "The moon looks pretty tonight"

Kaguya looked up into the sky and nodded forlornly. It was beautiful; the moon was full and shines brightly in the night sky accompanied by thousands of diamonds twinkling in the dark fabric of the universe. Kaguya smiled forlornly at herself, which the sniper noticed.

"Miss your home?"

Kaguya nodded. "It was funny though, I chose to remain here even though I have the rights and chance to return to. I knew why I stayed in Gensokyo. I have fallen for this flaw-filled world of humans which the moon-dwellers despise. I never regretted my decision to stay here, yet every time I saw that orb up there…"

Alex nodded at Kaguya's answer. "Ya know, it's normal actually. No matter how much your old home fucked you up, you would still miss it. That's what we call homesickness mate. You miss your old home"

Kaguya nodded at Alex's answer, not taking her eyes off the moon. "You're right Alex, I miss the moon. Every time I looked up there I felt like I am looking back at an old lover of mine who has forgotten me yet I still remember the flame of love we have back in the days."

Alex then stared at the moon, smiling at himself. "Here's a better analogy. You have a relationship with the moon, but he is too perfect that you've grown bored of him and fallen in love with Flawed Earth. Despite the plea of Flawless Moon you cemented your love and commitment on Flawed Earth. Despite your love and commitment on Flawed earth, you can't help but missed your first flame of your life."

Kaguya turned her head and stared at Alex with her eyes wide open. "That's…a really good analogy. I can't think of a better analogy than that."

Alex smirked and tapped his head again. "You're welcome friend. But remember, no matter what happens, you still have your friend here. All the friends and allies you made here, they got your sweet ass" Alex then put his fist on his chest and grinned. "I got your ass mate"

Kaguya then smirked. "Thanks for having my ass, I want them back."

Alex grinned and turned around and bended over, showing his rear toward the princess. "Here, take it."

Kaguya tried her best to contain her laughter. She then shook her head in mock disapproval. "That is not my ass"

"How do you know?" Alex asked suggestively. He gave a slight wag at his buttocks, which almost breaks the princess's demeanour. "Isn't this the sweetest piece of meat you ever saw?"

Kaguya shook her head again. "No, that is the ugliest piece of shit I ever saw in my life. Mine was a delicate sweet, soft, and succulent ass befitting a moon princess."

Alex stands up, a large grin etched on his face. As a sniper, he has the ability to discern anomalies in his surrounding and pinpoint said anomaly within matter of microseconds. Using said ability, he pointed his finger toward a lone soldier who was patrolling near the wall. "There's your ass"

Kaguya looked up and her face was impassive for three seconds. 1 second for the picture to emerge in her head and two seconds for the joke to sink in. Kaguya have no choice but to surrender to her inner child and laughed like a hyena.

"Dammit Alex! I don't know you swing that way!"

Alex's eyes were wide open for one second, and then he looked at the person he was pointing at. He then joined Kaguya's hyena pack.

"I don't know it's a he!"

"I always knew you're gay Alex!"

"I-what-he" Alex tried to say something, but then he realised that the soldier was staring at them. Alex turns toward Kaguya whom shared the same look. Then they returned to their laughter.

"Okay soldier, back to work!" Kaguya said between chortles. Alex joined in the fun too and yelled at the poor soldier. "Yeah! Get yo soft ass moving nigga!"

The poor soldier saluted the two commanders and run as fast as he can toward the opposite direction, the peal of laughter subsides from his ears as he ran further away from the pair of madman.

 _Why do I have night shift tonight?_ The soldier asked himself as he ran away for his dear life.

The laughter continues on for a half a minute which soon disappears into a small fit of giggles. Alex smiled at the young princess and bowed. "Does that make you feel any better?"

Kaguya raised an eyebrow at that statement, yet she smiled in the end. "Alex, that joke wasn't funny at all, in fact it was quite crass to be honest." She then raised her head upward and smiled at the moon above her. "But if I was at the moon cracking a little joke won't even be allowed."

"Truly land of the free eh?" Alex said which Kaguya nodded in agreement.

"Yeah." Kaguya replied. Three seconds afterward she turns around to face the explorer.  
"Alex, I think enough is enough. I'll be heading back to my bunk. I'll order you to do the same"

"Order eh?" Alex said. "You do know that I have the power to simply disregard your orders right?"

"Frankly, I don't care. I'm off to bed. See ya Alex"

"Yeah, see ya soon Kaguya" Alex replied.

With that said Kaguya then turned around and walked straight toward headquarter, intent on getting some sleep. Alex however stays at his spot, admiring the moon. The moon casted a soft glow upon the black explorer as he stood at his spot contemplating his decision. Alex thought about the mission tomorrow which he would lead. She's right, he need rest if he wants to help the army to move forward.

Alexander's last image from his dreams appeared at his mind, threatening to rip apart the seam of sanity he tried so hard to maintain. Alex frowned at the memory. It was painful; it was painful enough to keep him awake even after a whole day of uninterrupted combat. The growling in his head became louder as the silence of the night provides no distraction from his dark thoughts. Kaguya's talk was enough to silence them for a while, but how long until they became loud again?

Alex pulled out his wallet and take out the token of his mistress's affection. Alex always wonders what kind of perfume she uses so that the gauze would stay fragrant even after the owner was drenched in blood. It doesn't matter though; it saved his life many times. He sniffed the gauze again, remembering the sweet smell of his beloved magician. Alex saw her smiling face beamed through the dark thought like the moon glow that cuts through the darkness of the night; like a bullet that cuts through the wind and into an imp's windpipe.

Alex looked upward and pondered upon Kaguya's motivation. Flaw, a word that was described as negative. Having flaws means that you're not as good as a person as others expect you to be. But isn't that what makes us human in the first place? Isn't that what makes us alive? Perfection cannot be attained, for what man can be perfect other than a god? And how can a flawed being sympathize with a flawless being?

Perhaps this is why goddess likes Gensokyo. It was truly a land of fantasy, a land where perfection can be attained, yet the flaw that defines a human still lingers on the land. Alex smiled at his own thought. Flaws make a human distasteful to others, so it would make sense that a perfect human would be loved by everybody right? It would make sense that in order for you to be loved you must strive to be as perfect as you can?

But what about the one who has achieved perfection I wonder? Alex thought to himself as he stared into the moon. O perfect imperishable moon, you have been bested by the dirty and flawed earth. Why though? If perfection was the goal of a relationship, then why does human with flaws are the most attractive of all? Wouldn't a human who was all-around perfect much more attractive than a flawed human?

Alex looked at himself. Then his eyes widened in realisation. Flaws are the most attractive thing a human have, because nobody was perfect. When nobody is perfect everybody is equal. When someone was perfect you cannot help but feel alien together when you're full of laws. Perhaps that is why humans likes flaw. They could relate to others who have flaws because they have flaws too, like a living being. Even machines have a flaw or two.

Alex grinned at his own thought. Flaws, perhaps which is why Alex can understand and befriend the goddess of Gensokyo. They despite being as close as perfect as they can be they have flaws that make them unmistakeably human.

Another thought strikes him again. If flaw was considered a point of human attraction, then surely people who has the most flaw was the most likable. If that the case, what about the demons? They embodies everything that was unholy, the antithesis of perfection and everything that is good. They basically flaws twisted into something unrecognizable, hence making them more flawed. With the logic of flaws attract other flaws; won't that make them a very attractive being for humans for humans are also a flawed creature?

"That's enough for one night" Alex said to himself.


	13. Chapter 13

I groaned internally as I entered the dreadful forest. Knowing the fact that the enemies came from said forest itself doesn't help at all. My grip on my shotgun was strong due to fear and nervousness. I would rather not take another step toward the bloody forest, but orders are orders.

My eyes darted to and fro as we marched through a seemingly abandoned route. At first I thought we were going off-course as we diverted from the dirt road into densely packed foliage just at the corner of the route. Imagine my surprise when halfway through I realised that the vegetation at our way actually moved to give us room to march on.

"That's why we have fairies" Sanae said to me as I watched the foliage closes up behind me. "They manipulate the foliage in the forest so that they can create hidden pathway and routes toward hidden bases and shortcut. We'll hit Rabbit's Hole in just a couple of minutes"

"Rabbit Holes?" I asked her. "What exactly it is actually? Is it like the London Underground Railway or something?"

"More than that to be fair" Sanae replied. "You see, radio signal cannot get through Eintei's forest because the magic messed up the wavelength in the air, hence making every wireless signal-based equipment moot."

"So if radio signal cannot get through in that forest, how the hell the commander can communicate inside there?" I asked. Sanae smiled at my question and tugged at my microphone string.

"You can however, still transmit electricity and signal via wire. The magic only messed up the wireless system, not landline. So the rabbits put in a very intricate web of landlines underground so that our leaders can communicate inside the forest"

"That doesn't add up" I replied. "If it was simply an underground landline system at Eintei's forest, why are we travelling inside Forest of Magic?"

"What are rabbits good at?" Sanae asked. Me seeing the opportunity given to me, I replied quickly with a shit-eating grin.

"Fucking"

Sanae guffawed at my wisecrack. I decided to join in the fun and giggled as well. Shit will always hit the fan, might as well muster all the morale we can.

"Maybe, I don't know. I never saw one went at it. Anyway, the rabbits are really good at digging. They decided to make an underground transit system so that we could travel in-between the forest. it's a fast-travel option for troops to move on the field."

"How big is it?" I asked.

"Pretty big. It has railway systems that spans from Forest o' Magic, Eintei Forest and Genbu Ravine. It started out as an underground train system like London Underground. Weapons, equipment and ammunition would be shipped from Genbu Ravine and toward the checkpoints at Eintei Forest and Forest of Magic."

"Is it big enough to handle a battalion of us there?" I asked as I look at our marching troops. Humvees and jeeps armed with machineguns and automatic grenade launchers lumbers among us, thus kicking up a large dust storm for anybody unlucky enough to march behind them. An odd tank or two followed us behind in a single column, their engines growled like a dragon sleeping in its cave.

"Big enough to transfer a platoon consisted of jeeps alone." Sanae replied. "You see, it started out as small, but when the demons came they made several checkpoints in the forest, hence allowing them a secure foothold in the forest"

"What happens next?"

Sanae grinned and pointed at the ground underneath me. "Where the hell the bulk of the demon checkpoint's building was located? Under the fucking ground Hito. The rabbits simply dug a tunnel between each demon underground outpost to make one giant interconnected underground base."

"Using demon's underground structure to expand one own? Sounds dangerous"

Sanae waved away my sceptical question. "It's Gensokyo, shit like that works all the time. Plus, each bases platoon stationed there has thoroughly cleaned out the demonic base and purged their stench to the smallest molecule. Even if they manage to get in they have to content with roaming squads in each station."

"What happens if they were overwhelmed?" I asked her. "Surely they have reinforced the place with whatever they have. But we already knew that demons are not laughing matters even to Youkai. So what do they do?"

"My, we simply blow the fucking station sky-high. They won't get out though; the kappas have found a way to create a gate that closes any compromised station away from other station. It'll buy the Rabbit Hole more time to get ready for extermination"

"You seem awfully confident of this base" I said. "Speaking of which, how do you know so much of it?"

"Who the hell do you think destroyed the demon teleporter in each station?"

My eyes widened. I pointed my finger at her, and then she nodded.

"Only you?"

She shook her head. "We have some priestess in each platoon to silence the teleporter here. After I done training priestesses in Gensokyo to simply close the portal I was transferred to your platoon as a guide and obligatory priestess in any army platoon."

"Oh"

"Look, we have arrived" Sanae said, pointing toward the front. To my surprise there was a hole right in the middle of the ground. Fortunately there was a ramp that leads toward said hole, so it doesn't mean that we would jump inside. Lights came out of said base entrance. Filling my lung with the cold air of the forest, I followed my battalion into the base.

Alright, I always say that I'll give the kappas a fuck-ton of medals if I became a general. At this rate I would have to dedicate a factory to pump out the medals for them.

When we descend into the abyss we went straight toward what equates to a tramline for us here. It was simply a platform with gates atop two iron rails that acts as the railway. Soldiers, scientist and worker milled to and fro at the waiting line, each too busy with their own problem. As we were supposed to hit the bamboo forest earlier we have a train ready for us.

We jumped into the train. It was big, but in the army it means that they can stuff more soldiers in. Like always, we were packed in like sardine.

I gripped my shotgun closer to my body. The newest weapon assigned to me upon request. I still can't believe they allow me to carry a different weapon, as military was very strict with logistic and regulation. I still kept my regulation M9 though; favour from an officer can only extend so far.

We both carried the same shotgun, a simple Remington 870 shotgun with wooden features and a sling. I felt more like a civilian or policeman using this weapon than a marine.

But what Sanae said to me made sense. Buckshot was the most effective rounds against the demons, so an army dedicated to fighting them would be logically armed with shotguns. She said that the Gensokyo army was already equipping more soldiers with shotguns as they already have a ridiculous amount of shotguns in their reserve.

"Our first weapon was a shotgun" Sanae told me when I asked her about the odd choice of weaponry for the army. "Back then, we don't have firearms. We have some odd medieval weapons infused with magic power instead. When we decided that we need to modernize ourselves in combat department we asked the kappas to craft ourselves an exclusive gun for us."

"Then why the shotgun?" I asked.

"You see, this happened before Gensokyo's big reveal, when Alex decided to help out Gensokyo's human-Youkai relationship by creating an army of mixed species. I don't know what's going on his head, but he's responsible for creating the army we have now.

"All by himself?" I asked. She giggled.

"Not quite, he simply oversee the meetings and explained them the plans. It was a sound plan, and many people back then thought it was a perfect opportunity to grab more power. The humans felt like they could finally have a say in Youkai politics. The Youkais thought of them as another form of servants, except more combat-oriented. The gods saw them as extra worshippers to increase their power. Reimu stands neutral on the ground but she does not object at the idea of not having to do everything by herself. Trust me, you think facing against demons were hard enough? Imagine flying all across Gensokyo and back and through many different dimensions just to find a single clue for an incident. Even then the incident itself might not even be an incident!"

"Have you ever solved any of them?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, a couple of times. It was tiring as all hell. Fighting for fun was one thing, but fighting for a reason is another story. I basically stopped doing incident-solving and focused on my shrine. It was tiring and thankless job, but it was the most crucial thing to do."

"Yeah, as I was saying Alex decided that the new army would need a simple yet effective weapon that both civilian and military can use so that the culture shock of having modern firearms in their inventory can be alleviated before they receive their shipment from Nitori. Alex went outside and purchased thousands of these civilian shotguns for us to use. It was simple to use, powerful regardless of the wielder's own strength, and pretty simple to maintain and craft. We all took a liking to it instantly. By the time Nitori rolls in with the first prototype of the NAR-01, 90% of us were using shotguns."

"So, how the hell did he get all that hardware?" I asked her. She shrugged her shoulder.

"Hell if I knew, I'm just a grunt"

"A grunt who's basically a goddess here and have connection with almost every commander in the field" I quipped. "Thanks to you I got some new shit already."

"Heh, the perk of friendship." Sanae said as she stares at the battalion cramped inside the train. Some of the soldiers were sound asleep. It's a good idea, who knows how long they will have to stay awake before they can sleep safely again? Some were chatting with each other, chatting on about the wonders of the world they found themselves on and what their plans are in the future. If they survive. Demons are not a joke. You think you're safe armed with a shotgun and inside a fortified house? Wait until a hell knight bust the wall down and sent in the pinkies at the backdoor to block your escape. Hell, they might not even need to bust down the wall. A couple of flying demon skull is enough to bring panic once they got inside the base. It doesn't help that they have a variant that can forcefully behead a human's head and replace said head with the skull itself. It was a lengthy process though; the fucker has to lower his nape at the stump of the corpse and wait until the demonic flame made contact with the exposed spine. It usually takes 10 minutes or so. Long enough for friendly marines to bust their skulls with their boot.

"Wait a second" I asked Sanae. "You say Alex purchased this guns outside Gensokyo before the war right? Wouldn't that attract some attentions? Guns ain't that cheap and you can't buy guns in bundle like buying chicken to replenish your fried chicken stall. How can he get guns in large quantity when he worked for the SDM? Should he reveal the company or organisation he worked for to purchase those guns? In that case, how can the information on Gensokyo was still not known?"

Sanae nodded at my question. "You expect him to buy it legally?"

My eyes widened at the implication Sanae gave me. "Shit, so you're telling me-"

"Yup" Sanae replied as my sentence trailed off as my mind worked on the implication. "So, he smuggles in enough guns to supply SDM?"

"Yup" Sanae replied. "But remember, this happened before Gensokyo made its debut to the outside world. Hell, it happened years beforehand. Of course he can't buy the guns legally. He'll be forced to reveal Gensokyo to the outside world. Remember how the humans greeted us when we first appear? Imagine Cold War, but even more intense"

"How?" I asked her. "How did get all of this supply by himself? Even if he buys it illegally wouldn't it raise someone's attention?"

Sanae leaned toward me conspiratorially, smiling deviously as she got dangerously close to my face. "its top secret and talking about this itself would land me in jail. How did I found out about this information?"

I leaned forward, I wanted to know too. This sounds like really sensitive information. Obviously I cannot write these down in my article, I would get hunted down by him myself or anybody in Gensokyo. My only protection came from Sanae, but even then she was one woman against three different army.

Heh, sometimes I forgot that my best friend was a goddess.

Then, a siren blares through the complex, the sound startled both of us as we instinctively grabbed our respective shotgun. Everybody on the train suddenly snapped to attention, their eyes narrowing in determination and fear.

"What's happening?" Asked Heavy in his thick Russian accent. Motherfucker was silent the whole time. But he was also one of the best bro you can ask for. That's the reason why me and Sanae can talk to each other normally without worry of being eavesdropped. We still talk on low volume, but Heavy won't say anything, even if he heard incriminating evidence.

His minigun was still at his back. I still wonder how the hell he can carry that 6-barrel death machine around like it was an LMG. He instead opted to fold his arm and glare toward the end of the tunnel, as if trying to see an invisible enemy. We are surely fucked if there was an invisible demon. Seeing those fucks on broad daylight is bad enough, but not seeing them and knew they were there?

That's some nightmare fuel there mate.

 _"Warning! heavy demonic presence at Gate 8. Require all personnel to get ready for combat"_

"Shit!" I cursed loudly. "Destination compromised?!"

"Looks like it" Sanae replied grimly. "The gate is under siege right now, which means that the demons already made their move"

"Does that mean Eintei Mansion is under attack?" Heavy asked seriously. Sanae nodded.

"Yes Heavy, the base's under attack. The attacks are now serious. The entrance was behind the walls. Which means that they are in heavy danger of being overrun."

"Shit" Me and Heavy said simultaneously.

Sanae then raised her shotgun, checking whether she loads it or not. I did the same thing too. It was fully loaded. As I inspected my shotgun I can see a scratch mark at the buttstock of the shotgun. _Joseph,_ a name perhaps? Could it be someone's belonging? An heirloom perhaps? I wondered why does the name was there. Now with the new information from Sanae, I felt a heavy lead weighting down my gut.

"Don't worry Joseph" I said to the shotgun as if it was alive. "I'll use you to defend the live of innocents, just as you were designed to do so"

I then looked forward as the train screeches into a halt. A large metal barrier is in front of us. With a loud hiss, the barrier slides out of sight as the metal panel sink toward the ground. The metal panel was thick, around 20 inches thick. It doesn't sink all the way though, but the top of the panel merges along with the existing train tracks, connecting the tunnel train tracks with the one at the station.

We can already hear the sound of battle from here. Automatics chatter with the grunting and humming of demonic energy, the only form of conversation Gensokyo's native and demons can hold. Screams of the dying and the desperate pierces the air alongside with the guttural growl and inhuman screech of the attacker.

My heart pounds rapidly as the train stopped beside the landing station. Even from here, we can hear the rapid chattering of the sentry guns stationed at the gate of the underground station. Again, I thanked the kappas for their mechanical wonder as we rushed toward the gate.

It was chaos. We were beside the vehicle depot, which were under siege by pinkies and Hell Knights. The sentry guns and the machinegun post did a bloody fine job of holding them off, but they were barely holding on. The Hell Knights have ranged attacks, which allow them to suppress the machineguns as their pinkish ally swoop in for the kill. The tanks created a wall around the mouth of the gate, allowing the machinegunners some respite from the oncoming horde. The lighter vehicles however moved to and fro in the battlefield, some were ferrying off wounded into the mansion, some in a suicidal courage weaved in and around the battlefield, distracting the bigger and meaner Barons with their agile jeeps and damaging machinegun. Mostly I saw them at the entrance of the mansion just a stone throw from the gate itself, providing static defence against forceful entrance.

I was shocked to see that the walls were still intact. What the fuck? I then looked at the entrance of the defensive wall, realising how cold a soldier can feel when they were in fear. The entrance was broken, allowing the demons to come in. The defender by what mean manages to stem the flow of the horde using the broken gate. The gate's topside were collapsed entirely, cutting off the connection between the east and west walls. But the rubble from the collapsed structure created a whole new obstacle for the demons to traverse, which gave the defenders time to pick them off.

The number of demons inside the perimeter was ample, but they were soon blown apart by tanks and rockets from handheld rocket launchers. As we joined the platoon defending the vehicle depot we were soon plagued by a wave of flaming skulls. I raised my shotgun high, aiming for the flying sign of death metal.

"Pull!"

The skull broke into pieces after Sanae's call. I smiled as I sighted another skull in the sky, meandering lazily as if it has nothing to care about in this world. Oh sweet Sanae, what would I do without you?


End file.
